Agnipath scheme salary package, income tax, leave policy, provident fund, Seva Nidhi package explained

New Delhi: The Ministry of Defence on Sunday said the Army aspirants involved in arson and violence while taking part in the protest against the Agnipath scheme, will be barred from the Army recruitment drive. In a press conference, it said the Army aspirants will have to declare at the time of submitting the enrolment form that they didn't take part in the Agniveer protests. A police verification will also be conducted. Those who have FIRs registered against them will be barred from the armed forces. Meanwhile, the government has released service rules as to the Agnipath scheme.

According to service rules, Army aspirants below the age of 18 will have to get the enrollment forms signed by their parents. The parents' consent will be mandatory for those below 18. The Army aspirants who exit the service after a period of four years will forgo the right to be selected for any enrolment into the armed forces. 

The Agnipath soldiers, apart from a uniform, will wear a distinctive insignia during their service period. Agniveers will be eligible for all gallantry awards, including the Param Veer Chakra.

The Agniveer soldiers will get an annual leave of 30 days. They can also avail sick leave on the recommendation of medical professionals.

Those recruited under the Agnipath scheme will also be eligible for treatment at the military hospitals and CSD benefits. 

The government has made it clear that those entering the service will not be released before four years at their request. 

Salary structure of Agniveer soldiers 

For the first year, Agniveer soldiers will get a total salary of Rs 30,000 per month. Rs 9,000 per month will be deducted for the Seva Nidhi corpus. The government will pay an equal amount. For the second year, they will get an in-salary of Rs 23,100; the government will pay Rs 9,900 additionally to the corpus. For the third year, in-hand salary of the soldiers will be Rs 25,550; Centre will pay Rs 10,950 to the corpus. For the fourth year, the government will pay Rs 12,000 to the fund and soldiers will get an in-hand salary of Rs 28,000.

At the end of their service, they would have paid Rs 5.02 lakh for their Seva Nidhi package. The government would have paid the same amount. This means a total of Rs 10.04 lakh would be paid to them. The government will also pay an interest akin to the employee provident fund scheme.

No employee provident fund deductions will be made. No income tax will be charged for the Seva Nidhi lump-sum payment. On the salaries, standard income tax rules will apply.