NEW DELHI: Agniveers who opt for the newly approved two-year "Second Tour of Duty" will be paid a monthly salary of Rs 43,500 in the first year and Rs 47,500 in the second, plus applicable allowances, Air Vice Marshal Shekhar Yadav said at a press conference detailing the Indian Air Force's rollout of the extension on Thursday.
The briefing followed the Union Cabinet's approval on November 4 of an additional two-year engagement period for Agniveers under the Agnipath scheme, announced earlier by Chief of Defence Staff General N.S. Raja Subramani, according to PTI. The decision allows the 75 per cent of Agniveers not retained after their initial four-year tenure to serve two more years and then seek enrolment as regular soldiers.
Air Vice Marshal Yadav said the recommendation for a second tour of duty was made by the defence forces based on the "exceptional performance" of Agniveers during their first tour, and was subsequently approved by the government.
Only Agniveers who have freshly completed their first four-year tour of duty will be eligible to apply for the new two-year engagement, he said. Selection for the second tour will be based on objective criteria laid down by the defence forces.
A fresh corpus under the Employer-Deposit Participation package will be opened for the second tour, with Agniveers contributing Rs 3.28 lakh and the government contributing Rs 7.64 lakh over the two-year period, Air Vice Marshal Yadav said.
On completion of the second tour, all willing Agniveers will be offered enrolment into the regular cadre of the defence forces, subject to meeting the objective selection criteria, he said. Those unwilling to continue will exit as "disciplined, motivated and skilled youth", he added.
"This proposal is beneficial to both the services and the Agniveers," Air Vice Marshal Yadav said. For the services, it means retaining skilled and experienced manpower and a larger pool of trained soldiers assessed over a longer period before being selected into the regular cadre, he said. For Agniveers, the additional two years mean more experience, more skills and a stronger financial base, while letting them choose their own career path, he said.
Responding to questions on how the extension helps the forces, Air Vice Marshal Yadav said the defence forces get to retain trained manpower built up over the first four years, with more of them retained through the experience gained. For Agniveers, the additional two years offer more opportunities to learn and build skills, besides the financial benefit of the enhanced pay package, he said.
The Agnipath scheme was rolled out in June 2022 to bring down the age profile of the defence forces and give young people an opportunity to join the services, while channelling disciplined, skilled and motivated manpower back into society after their tenure, Air Vice Marshal Yadav said. After the first four-year tour, 25 per cent of Agniveers have been identified for enrolment as regular soldiers based on merit, following an objective assessment of organisational requirement and operational efficiency, he said.
Over three lakh Agniveers are currently serving across the three services, according to PTI. The change was announced just over three weeks before around 18,300 Agniveers from the first batch were due to exit the armed forces by December 31.