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Essential data, facts and figures from reports, policies, schemes and important documents for UPSC-CSE.
Agnipath scheme
Syllabus-
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: General Studies II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Why in news?
– Government announced an armed force recruitment scheme called- Agnipath scheme on June 14.
What is Agnipath Scheme?
– Under the new Tour of Duty system, likely to be named “Agnipath”, soldiers or “Agniveer” will be recruited for a period of four years at the end of which they will get over Rs 10 lakh tax-free and certificates or diplomas for their service. Agniveers will be selected through an online centralised system. Educational qualification for Agniveers will be the same as the criteria for regular positions in the force.
– The government aims to recruit about 45,000-50,000 personnel below officer rank in the three services every year through a biannual exercise with a six-month gap. At the end of their tenure, 25 percent of these recruits will be inducted back into the services and go on to serve for a full 15 years in non-officer ranks. The remaining will exit the services with a package between ₹ 11 lakh – ₹ 12 lakh, but they will not be eligible for pension benefits.
– Candidates between the ages of 17-and-a-half years and 21 years will be eligible to apply, and recruitment will be conducted under existing qualification criteria. The recruits will undergo training for six months and serve for the remaining period. Currently, a soldier serves for nearly 17-20 years.
– Under the new scheme, the starting salary will be Rs 30,000, which will go up to Rs 40,000 by the end of the fourth year. However, 30 percent of the salary will be held back as savings, and an equal amount contributed by the Government per month, under the Seva Nidhi scheme.
– On its success, the scheme will cut the annual revenue and pension bill which accounts for half of the annual defence budget of ₹ 5.2-lakh crore.
– Provisions have been made for loss of life or disability due to an injury on duty.
Point to ponder: Agnipath scheme will enhance the “youthful profile” of the forces along with bringing a transformational shift towards a more tech-savvy combat force. Comment.
