New Delhi: Agniveers who are not among those retained in service can now return for a second term of two years.
The Union Cabinet, on Tuesday, approved the extension, signaling that the military values the contribution of the Agniveers and requires their continued services.
The decision to continue in service will rest entirely with the individual, officials said, as reported by Hindustan Times.
“Taking a significant decision today, the Union Cabinet chaired by PM Shri Narendra Modi has approved a two-year ‘Second Tour of Duty’ for Agniveers under Agnipath. I sincerely thank PM Modi for taking the decision of additional 2-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,” defence minister Rajnath Singh posted on X.
“This decision is continuation of long-term structural reforms of our defence forces, aimed at creating a younger, fitter, technologically equipped and future-ready military. It is not merely a recruitment policy; it is a way forward to prepare India’s military for the changing character of warfare,” he added.
This announcement comes barely weeks before the three services were to start releasing 75% of Agniveers from the first batch in phases starting mid-November.
Over 18,300 Agniveers were to exit the armed forces by December 31 after completing their four-year term.
The Agnipath recruitment model – long a political flashpoint because it cuts the tenure of personnel below officer rank and offers them fewer service benefits – was introduced in 2022 to keep the armed forces young and combat-ready.
Under this scheme, soldiers are recruited for a four-year term, with a provision to retain only 25% of them in regular service for another 15 years.
The 18,300 soldiers, who were to be released this year, account for three-fourths of the 24,400 recruits inducted into the Army, Air Force and Navy in the first round of recruitment. The first batch comprised around 19,000 Agniveers in the Army, 2,850 in the IAF and 2,550 in the Navy, according to official data.
All three services have expressed satisfaction with the performance of Agniveers across roles.
Officials had earlier said the scheme could be tweaked in the future to retain more Agniveers with specialised skills. The Army currently has around 270,000 Agniveers, the IAF around 27,000 and the Navy roughly 21,000, the officials said.
The Agnipath model marked a major departure from the military’s decades-old recruitment system, which the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government replaced when it announced the new scheme in June 2022.
