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On Tuesday, the Central Government has made an important change regarding the appointment of soldiers in the Indian Defense Sector. Under which the government has announced the Agneepath scheme to recruit youth in the army for four years. Let us know what is this scheme and what should be the eligibility for it.
NEWS9 Staff:The Central Government on Tuesday announced major changes in the recruitment process of soldiers for the Indian Defense Sector. This change will be seen with the implementation of Tour of Duty (TOD). This the path of fire (Agneepath). Under this special and first of its kind model, there will be short-term recruitment of civilians in the three services of the armed forces for four years. Although Short Service Commissioned officers serve in the Indian Army for ten years, but in this new model of Tour of Duty, a shorter service period has been arranged.
Features of Tour of Duty
The model has been envisaged with an objective to recruit around 45,000-50,000 below officer rank personnel in the three services twice every year at an interval of six months. Under this system, the soldiers will be recruited for four years. Initially, the candidates will get a salary of Rs 30,000, which will increase to Rs 40,000 by the end of the fourth year. Under the service fund scheme, about 30 percent of the salary will be kept back as savings and an equal amount will be contributed by the government every month.
Essential Qualification for the candidates
The age of the candidates willing to apply for the vacant post in Defense Sector should be between 17 and a half years to 21 years. The recruitment will be conducted as per the existing eligibility criteria. Under the new model, candidates will have to undergo training for six months and work for the remaining period. At present a soldier serves for about 17-20 years.
soldiers benefit
At the end of four years, the soldier will be given a total amount exceeding Rs 10 lakh and it will be tax free. But they will not be entitled to pension. Soldiers are likely to be awarded diplomas or credits based on training and skills acquired during the tenure. This will help them in their further education. About 25 percent of these recruits will be inducted back into the services after four years. However, the modalities of this process have not been finalized yet. The youths who are withdrawn will be able to serve for the next 15 years and will be entitled to retirement benefits.
Defense sector benefits
This move is likely to solve many difficulties related to the armed forces. With the help of this model, it will help in filling the vacant seats in the defense sector. There has been almost no recruitment of soldiers for the three services in the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry of Defense had shared a data in Parliament on March 28, according to which more than 1 lakh posts of junior commissioned officers of other ranks are vacant in the army. It will also provide opportunities to thousands of young candidates who want to be a part of Army, Navy and Air Force. Soldiers recruited under the Tour of Duty will ensure that a substantial portion of the workforce is dedicated and skilled in promoting government and private sector production.
benefit to the government
Tour of Duty will solve the issue of personnel shortage in the Army and will reduce the burden of pay hike and pension. This will reduce the age profile of soldiers in the units. Pension amount can be saved through TOD which is given to retired soldiers. The government had allocated around Rs 1.2 lakh crore for pensions to the Defense Ministry and the armed forces in the current financial year, which is almost a quarter of the total defense budget. About two years ago, several assessments were made for the first time regarding the proposed scheme. According to one of these estimates, comparing the expenditure incurred by the government for a soldier under the existing and proposed systems, there would be a lifetime savings of about Rs 11.5 crore. The cumulative money saved in salary and gratuity payments can be used for much-needed military modernization.
ToD related concerns
There are also many experts who are expressing concern over the implementation of ToD. According to him, most soldiers will now serve only four years without pension as compared to around 20 years of service with pension under the current system. There are also concerns about whether the training and tenure will be sufficient for certain operations that these soldiers may be required to perform. According to an initial proposal by the Army, there is a need to recruit those youth without relaxing the entry criteria. The plan was made for those who did not want to make the military their permanent career but still wanted to experience the thrill of military professionalism.
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