Amid the ongoing protests, Army Chief General Manoj Pande told news agency ANI on Friday about the government's decision to give one-time relaxation to raise the age from 21 to 23 years for the 2022 recruitment cycle. The training of the first 'Agniveers' will begin in December 2022, with active duty beginning in the middle of 2023, the Army Chief said.
"Recruitment process is going to begin soon. Within the next two days, a notification will be issued on the official website. After that our Army recruitment organisations will declare a detailed schedule of registration and rally," Indian Army Chief informed ANI in an exclusive interview.
Read | Agnipath scheme: Fierce protests rage on across 7 states, know the present situation
General Manoj Pande said that this decision will provide an opportunity for the energetic and patriotic youth, who were preparing to attend the recruitment rallies despite the pandemic, which could not be completed in the last two years due to Covid restrictions.
Army Chief General Manoj Pande said, "The recruitment process is going to begint soon. Notification will be issued on http://joinindianarmy.nic.in within next 2 days. After that our army recruitment organisation will announce the detailed schedule of registration and rally. As far as the Agniveers going to the Recruitment Training Centres are concerned, the training of the first batch of Agniveers at the centres will start from this December (in 2022). We call upon our youth to take advantage of this opportunity to join the Indian Army as Agniveers."
.
Meanwhile, Chief of India Air Force Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari said, "I am happy to announce that the upper age limit (for recruitment) has been revised to 23 years. This will benefit the youth. The recruitment process for the Indian Air Force will start from June 24.
Earlier, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, in a conversation with news agency ANI on Friday morning, appealed to the youth to prepare for recruitment and take advantage of this scheme. He said that the Agnipath scheme announced by the Central Government gives a golden opportunity to the youth of India to join the defence system of the country and serve the nation.
Earlier on June 14, while announcing the Agnipath scheme, it was told that the age limit of those applying under it has been fixed from 17.5 to 21 years. There has been no recruitment in the armed forces during the last 2 years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
As violent protests started across the country against the Agnipath scheme, the Central government decided that the age limit would be relaxed for the year 2022 under which the upper age limit of the applicants has been increased from 21 to 23 years.
