00:00As the first batch of Agniveers under the Agnipat scheme that was launched in June 2022
00:05are about to complete the four years of their service,
00:09a major decision has been taken by the government regarding the Agnipat scheme.
00:15CDS General NS Raja Subramani announced these decisions on Wednesday
00:18and said that 25% of the Agniveers will be retained in the regular forces depending upon their merit,
00:25while the 75% Agniveers who were about to retire after the completion of four years of service
00:31will also be a part of the forces under an engagement period of two years.
00:36This is important because these Agniveers who were about to retire and exit the forces
00:40are now getting another chance and will be absorbed 100% in the forces
00:45depending upon their willingness to be a part of the forces
00:48and of course depending upon their fitness and other assessment by the forces.
00:53So this two years of extension or the engagement period that has been announced for the Agnipeers
00:59is an attempt by the government to absorb all the Agniveers who have been inducted so far.
01:04CDS Raja Subramani also said that there will be no reservation
01:08after this two years of period of engagement finishes
01:12because the forces are encouraging all the Agniveers to be a part of their forces
01:19be it the army, navy or the air force.
01:21When it comes to the pays and emoluments then these two years they will have an enhanced payment.
01:28The first year these 75% Agniveers will get a payment of 43,500 monthly salary.
01:36In the second year they will be getting 47,500 of monthly salary.
01:40When it comes to the Sevanidhi package after first four years of their completion
01:46they were about to get around 11 lakhs and the 30% contribution came from their salary,
01:5130% came from the government.
01:53But in this engagement period of two years, 30% of the contribution will come from the salary of these
02:01Agniveers
02:01while 70% contribution will come from the government.
02:05But this Sevanidhi package will be valid only when they exit the forces.
02:11In case they do not exit the force, they will be a part of the regular army.
02:15The payment benefits will be according to the regular army soldiers
02:21and they will be given equal opportunities in the operational areas.
02:26So far there are 3 lakh Agniveers who have been serving in the forces since last four years.
02:3330% of them have already been deployed in the operational areas.
02:36That's an important clarification that was given by the CDS yesterday
02:41while he was speaking about the scheme.
02:44Another important thing is that this whole arrangement is not a rollback of the original Agnipat scheme.
02:51That's the clarification that has come from the defence officials also
02:54that this is not a rollback of Agnipat scheme
02:57but an opportunity for the Agniveers for 100% absorption.
03:02And now all the 75% of Agniveers who were about to retire after the completion of their services
03:10with the respective services be the army, navy or the air force will be a part of the forces.
03:15So now no exit for 75% of Agniveers and after two years they will again be assessed
03:22and depending upon their willingness they will be a part of the forces.
03:25So this is how the scheme has been given a new reset or extension for two years
03:34but still it is said that it's not a rollback for the Agnipat scheme.
03:39The scheme remains the same and depending upon the need of the numbers
03:43the further recruitment will be done for the Agniveers.
03:46This is Shivani Sharma with Camera Person Sanjeev Kumar for India Today from New Delhi.
