Agnipath Yojana:
The Center on Thursday increased the upper age limit for the ‘Agnipath Yojana’ military recruitment scheme from 21 years to 23 years along with a tax exemption. The decision was taken amid nationwide protests against the plan. The age limit has been increased as recruitment into the armed forces has been stalled for the last two years.
“Keeping in view the fact that recruitment has not been possible during the last two years, the government has decided that one-time relaxation will be given for the proposed recruitment cycle for 2022,” the government said in a press release.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday launched the ‘Agnipath Yojana’ recruitment scheme. The scheme will involve the recruitment of 46,000 soldiers into the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force (IAF).
Initially, the entry age for all new recruits in the Armed Forces under this scheme was fixed at 17.5 to 21 years. These recruitments will work for a period of four years initially. Of these, about 25 per cent will be retained for an additional 15-year term for permanent commission. Others would be allowed to leave and a service fund (amounting to more than Rs 11.71 lakh) would be given.
After the announcement of the scheme by the government, massive protests broke out in Bihar, Rajasthan and some other states. In Bihar, rail and road traffic was disrupted in several parts of the state by defence service aspirants protesting against the recruitment scheme.
Meanwhile, in Uttar Pradesh, 21 trains were operated on Gorakhpur-Chhapra, Chhapra-Ballia, Siwan-Thawe, Chhapra-Masrakh-Thawe, Varanasi-Ghazipur- and Varanasi-Prayagraj rail sections despite to protests against the plan. Varanasi division was affected. At many places, protesters also pelted stones on buses.
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