New Delhi: Around 9.55 lakh applicants, including 82,200 women, have registered for recruitment in the Indian Navy under the newly rolled out Agnipath scheme, officials said on Wednesday. The registration process for recruitment in the Navy under the scheme has concluded.
The Navy plans to recruit about 3,000 personnel this year under the Agnipath scheme and it started the registration process for aspirants on July 1. Nearly 7,50,000 candidates have already registered for around 3,000 positions in the IAF under the new scheme. The scheme, announced on June 14, seeks to recruit youths between the age bracket of 17-and-half years and 21 for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years.
Also read: IAF receives 7.5 lakh applications, highest ever in any recruitment cycle
For 2022, the upper age limit has been extended to 23 years. Several parts of India witnessed violent protests last month against the scheme with the agitators demanding its roll back as the new model does not provide a job guarantee to 75 per cent of recruits. The government has been maintaining that the Agnipath scheme aims to ensure a youthful profile of the armed forces, bring technically adept people and make them future-ready to deal with any challenges facing the nation.
Under the scheme, the three services are planning to recruit 46,000 soldiers this year. The youths to be recruited under the new scheme would be called 'Agniveer'. A major objective of the scheme is to bring down the average age of military personnel. The announcement of the new scheme came in the backdrop of recruitment into the military remaining stalled over the coronavirus pandemic for over two years. (PTI)
