GUWAHATI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday, November 4, approved a two-year extension for Agniveers under the Agnipath scheme, allowing 75% of the recruits to continue serving beyond their initial four-year tenure, Chief of Defence Staff General NS Raja Subramani said during the Cabinet briefing.
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Under the revised arrangement, 25% of Agniveers will continue to be enrolled into the regular armed forces after completing their initial four-year service, based on merit.
The remaining 75% will receive an additional two-year engagement period, taking their total service tenure to six years. Following the extended period, they will be eligible for enrolment into the regular armed forces based on objective selection criteria.
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for approving the additional two-year 'Second Tour of Duty' for Agniveers under the Agnipath scheme.
“This would also provide enrollment of all willing Agniveers as regular soldiers after the tenure of 4/6 years, who meet the selection criteria,” Singh said.
The Agnipath scheme was introduced on June 14, 2022, for recruiting young people aged between 17.5 and 23 years into the armed forces.
Currently, around 3 lakh Agniveers are serving under the scheme.
