Agnipath scheme: ‘Agniveer program to have basic, sea and professional training,’ says Eastern Naval Command chief

Two days after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced the Agnipath scheme for recruitment and career opportunities in the Indian armed forces, Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta on Wednesday informed that the "Agniveer" program will have various training sessions including basic, sea and professional training.

"Agniveer program will have 16 weeks of basic training, 2 weeks of sea training, and 16 weeks of professional training. We`ll employ them for their duties for 4 years," Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, Flag Officer Commanding in Chief, Eastern Naval Command told ANI.

Meanwhile, Chief of Staff Eastern Command Lieutenant General (L-G) KK Repswal also said the Army`s recruitment process for the Agnipath scheme will be the same as it was earlier and no compromises will be made in educational and physical standards.

"As far as entry is concerned, as per the educational and physical standards, no compromises will be made as after four years, you`ll have trained, disciplined manpower available to the industry. There is an age limit from 17.5 years of age to 21 years with the minimum qualification of 10th class for a soldier General Duty (GD)," said the L-G.

He said the recruited soldiers will have to serve for four years and after that, all the recruited cadets will be required to make an exit, of which 25 per cent will be retained and "this cadet can, thereafter, join the organization like any normal soldier.

"For the regiment department, we have to retain 25 per cent of the total recruited candidates, who will be picked by the central organization who would be judging them on their performance during the training period of three years in the service," Repswal added.

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the attractive recruitment scheme "AGNIPATH" which provides an opportunity for Indian youth to serve in the regular cadre of the Armed Forces for a period of four years.

The scheme has been designed to enable a youthful profile of the Armed Forces and provide a fresh lease of `Josh` and `Jazba` whilst at the same time bringing about a transformational shift towards a more tech-savvy Armed Forces - which is indeed the need of the hour. The selection will be the exclusive jurisdiction of the Armed Forces. A total of 46,000 Agniveers will be recruited this year.