New Delhi: The countrywide protests against the government’s ‘Agnipath’ recruitment scheme notwithstanding, the Indian Air Force (IAF) received 94,281 applications within four days of the registration process getting underway on Friday.
”A total of 94,281 Agniveer Vayu aspirants have registered till 10:30 am (Monday). Registration closes on July 5,” Defence Ministry spokesperson A Bharat Bhushan Babu said on Twitter. Till Sunday, the IAF had received 56,960 applications under the scheme.
Youths between the ages of 17-and-a-half and 21 years would be inducted for a four-year tenure, while 25 per cent of them will be subsequently inducted for regular service under the scheme. The government had on June 16 increased the upper age limit for recruitment under the scheme to 23 years from 21 for the year 2022, and subsequently announced a slew of placatory steps like a preference for Agniveers in central paramilitary forces and defence public sector undertakings upon their retirement.