Chief of Defence Staff General NS Raja Subramani said on Wednesday that a four-year review of the performance of Agniveers highlighted their skills, motivation, physical fitness and technological capabilities, prompting the government to revisit the terms of their service.
This review is not something that happened just today; this review has been ongoing, and today the Cabinet has approved our recommendations,” the CDS said. “A centralised database was maintained for all Agniveers and their performance. Now the government has opened the door to full-term service for all Agniveers. “The Agnipath scheme was open to modification from the start. The government has decided to give Agniveers who failed to make the cut to serve beyond four years an option to remain in service for two more years and offered them a route to enrol as regular soldiers in the armed forces at the end of the extended period. “Once those two years are complete, all Agniveers will be given the opportunity to become regular soldiers in the Indian armed forces. There are two conditions: they must be willing themselves, and they must meet our selection criteria…The detailed selection criteria applicable to the first batch of Agniveers will be evolved for the second batch of Agniveers as well.
Under Agnipath, soldiers were recruited for a four-year term, with a provision to retain only 25% of them in regular service for another 15 years. Since the scheme was introduced in June 2022, we have repeatedly stated that it is not set in stone, that we would evaluate their performance, and that we would continuously review it,” Subramani said. “After reviewing their achievements, the armed forces recommended to the government that the 75% of Agniveers who are remaining should be given another engagement period of two years.
All three services maintained a centralised database, and every year, their performance was reviewed,” the CDS said in a joint cabinet briefing with Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. Detailed feedback about the Agnipath scheme’s efficacy and the performance of Agniveers was obtained, the defence ministry said. Their strengths included “very high level of physical fitness, morale, motivation, a competitive spirit, discipline and technological adaptability,” it added. It will include physical fitness, adaptability, discipline, and there should be no vigilance cases, all of those will be checked,” the CDS said.
