<p>The government on Tuesday unveiled a "transformative" scheme--"<a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/armed-forces-unveil-agnipath-recruitment-scheme-now-youngsters-can-join-forces-for-4-years-become-agniveers-1118029.html" target="_blank">Agnipath</a>"-- for the recruitment of soldiers in the Army, Navy and the Air Force largely on a four-year short-term contractual basis, in a major overhaul of the decades-old selection process to bring in fitter and younger troops to deal with future security challenges facing the nation.</p>.<p>Under the scheme, around 46,000 soldiers will be recruited this year between the ages of 17 and a half years and 21 years into the three services, the defence ministry said. Out of the four years, six months will be dedicated to combat training, and only 25% of the recruits will be retained.</p>.<p>The government is offering Rs 30,000 in salary, along with benefits and insurance. The recruitment is set to begin within 90 days.</p>.<p>One of the key factors of the Agnipath scheme is that it will make the levels of the permanent force much leaner and significantly decrease pension bills, which have been a major area of concern for several years.</p>.<p><strong>How will it work?</strong></p>.<p>The recruitment will be based on an "all India, all-class" basis that is set to change the composition of several regiments that recruit youths from specific regions as well as castes such as Rajputs, Jats and Sikhs.</p>.<p>After completion of the four-year tenure of the recruits, the scheme provides for retaining 25 per cent of each specific batch for regular service, based on organisational requirements and policies promulgated by the armed forces from time to time.</p>.<p>If we look at the numbers, the government paid or allocated more than 3.3 lakh crore to defence pensions since 2020. In the February 2022 Budget, defence spending was set at 5.25 lakh crore, which increased by almost 10% from last year. The nearly Rs 1.20 lakh crore allocated for pension was larger than the Rs 1.17 lakh crore in revised pension estimates in 2021-22.</p>.<p>The monthly salary of an 'Agniveer' in the first year of employment would be Rs 30,000 and the in-hand amount would be Rs 21,000 as Rs 9,000 would go to a corpus and the government will make an equal contribution per month.</p>.<p>Subsequently, the monthly salary in the second, third and fourth year will be Rs 33,000, Rs 36,500 and Rs 40,000 respectively. Each 'Agniveer' will get an amount of Rs 11.71 lakh as the 'Seva Nidhi Package' and it will be exempted from the income tax.</p>.<p>The Agnipath scheme is expected to reduce the armed forces' bills as there will be no gratuity entitlement and no pension benefits for the recruits under the scheme. An Army proposal from 2020 conducted a rough calculation of possible savings using a three-year sepoy model. The cost to the government for a Sepoy with 17 years Terms of Engagement as compared to a sepoy with three years service showed that the possible lifetime savings for just one sepoy was Rs 11.5 crore.</p>.<p>Expenditure has been rising on all fronts; salaries have been going up for the Army, which is the largest in terms of strength, the Navy and the Air Force. The total pay and allowances for the three services this year are close to Rs 1.35 lakh crore. Along with the Rs 1.2 lakh crore in pensions, the government allocation this year is Rs 2.55 lakh crore for just salary and pension, which is higher than the Rs 2.33 lakh crore allocated for capital outlay, which will be used for the modernisation of the defence forces.</p>.<p>If we compare these numbers to the 2012-13 Budget, we will get a better idea about how much the bills have soared. Ten years ago, the year's total defence budget was Rs 2.38 lakh crore with Rs 39,000 crore allocated for defence pensions, Rs 56,000 crore for pay and allowances and nearly Rs 80,000 crore for capital outlay.</p>.<p><em>With agency inputs</em></p>
<p>The government on Tuesday unveiled a "transformative" scheme--"<a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/armed-forces-unveil-agnipath-recruitment-scheme-now-youngsters-can-join-forces-for-4-years-become-agniveers-1118029.html" target="_blank">Agnipath</a>"-- for the recruitment of soldiers in the Army, Navy and the Air Force largely on a four-year short-term contractual basis, in a major overhaul of the decades-old selection process to bring in fitter and younger troops to deal with future security challenges facing the nation.</p>.<p>Under the scheme, around 46,000 soldiers will be recruited this year between the ages of 17 and a half years and 21 years into the three services, the defence ministry said. Out of the four years, six months will be dedicated to combat training, and only 25% of the recruits will be retained.</p>.<p>The government is offering Rs 30,000 in salary, along with benefits and insurance. The recruitment is set to begin within 90 days.</p>.<p>One of the key factors of the Agnipath scheme is that it will make the levels of the permanent force much leaner and significantly decrease pension bills, which have been a major area of concern for several years.</p>.<p><strong>How will it work?</strong></p>.<p>The recruitment will be based on an "all India, all-class" basis that is set to change the composition of several regiments that recruit youths from specific regions as well as castes such as Rajputs, Jats and Sikhs.</p>.<p>After completion of the four-year tenure of the recruits, the scheme provides for retaining 25 per cent of each specific batch for regular service, based on organisational requirements and policies promulgated by the armed forces from time to time.</p>.<p>If we look at the numbers, the government paid or allocated more than 3.3 lakh crore to defence pensions since 2020. In the February 2022 Budget, defence spending was set at 5.25 lakh crore, which increased by almost 10% from last year. The nearly Rs 1.20 lakh crore allocated for pension was larger than the Rs 1.17 lakh crore in revised pension estimates in 2021-22.</p>.<p>The monthly salary of an 'Agniveer' in the first year of employment would be Rs 30,000 and the in-hand amount would be Rs 21,000 as Rs 9,000 would go to a corpus and the government will make an equal contribution per month.</p>.<p>Subsequently, the monthly salary in the second, third and fourth year will be Rs 33,000, Rs 36,500 and Rs 40,000 respectively. Each 'Agniveer' will get an amount of Rs 11.71 lakh as the 'Seva Nidhi Package' and it will be exempted from the income tax.</p>.<p>The Agnipath scheme is expected to reduce the armed forces' bills as there will be no gratuity entitlement and no pension benefits for the recruits under the scheme. An Army proposal from 2020 conducted a rough calculation of possible savings using a three-year sepoy model. The cost to the government for a Sepoy with 17 years Terms of Engagement as compared to a sepoy with three years service showed that the possible lifetime savings for just one sepoy was Rs 11.5 crore.</p>.<p>Expenditure has been rising on all fronts; salaries have been going up for the Army, which is the largest in terms of strength, the Navy and the Air Force. The total pay and allowances for the three services this year are close to Rs 1.35 lakh crore. Along with the Rs 1.2 lakh crore in pensions, the government allocation this year is Rs 2.55 lakh crore for just salary and pension, which is higher than the Rs 2.33 lakh crore allocated for capital outlay, which will be used for the modernisation of the defence forces.</p>.<p>If we compare these numbers to the 2012-13 Budget, we will get a better idea about how much the bills have soared. Ten years ago, the year's total defence budget was Rs 2.38 lakh crore with Rs 39,000 crore allocated for defence pensions, Rs 56,000 crore for pay and allowances and nearly Rs 80,000 crore for capital outlay.</p>.<p><em>With agency inputs</em></p>
