No compromise with quality of cadets recruited under Agnipath scheme: IAF officer

The Indian armed forces will not compromise with the quality of cadets while recruiting young 'Agniveers' under the newly launched Agnipath scheme for four years, Air Marshal Manavendra Singh said on Wednesday.

The Centre on Tuesday rolled out the Agnipath scheme offering four-year military training to youth from the ages 17.5 years to 21 years.

After completing the training, the cadets may leave the service and make their own move or if they wish they can apply for regular enrolment in the military services, the Centre said while launching the scheme.


"I would like to reassure you that it (Agnipath scheme) will work. The quality (of recruited cadets under Agnipath scheme) will not be compromised," Air Marshal Singh, who is the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Headquarters Training Command, Indian Air Force, told reporters here.

He was replying to a query on the defence veterans criticising the Agnipath scheme.




The Air Marshal said in the fast-changing world there cannot be just one way of doing things and insist upon doing things that they had been doing for the past 100 or 200 years.

"There is no reason to believe that there isn't just one way of doing things. Let's give it (Agnipath scheme) a try. And I have really strong belief that it will succeed very well. It will be very well received by the youth of this country and we will benefit from it," Air Marshal Singh said.

He said in a democratic nation, everyone is free to voice their opinion. But as an expert of the subject, the IAF officer said the defence establishment can train people for all kinds of specialisations.

To a query on reservation or preference in government jobs once the 'Agniveers' are out of service, Air Marshal Singh said they will be given preference in Central Armed Police Forces like CISF and Assam Rifles once their term is over.

Further, the Agniveer cadets will be given a degree by the Indira Gandhi National Open University after completing four years of service, the Air Marshal said.

According to him, the notification for the recruitment of Agniveer will be out shortly and it will take about 90 days for the selection process. There will be an all-India level exam, whose details will be available online, he added.

"There will be a total of 250 centres all over India. We are doing it in collaboration with (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) C-DAC. They've been our technology partners for the last couple of years," Air Marshal Singh said.

Stating that the exam will be conducted on a tried and tested system, he said the examination process works without any fear or favour, where there will be no scope for any intervention.

"It's absolutely a transparent and fair system where everybody has an equal opportunity to make his mark and get selected," the IAF officer explained.