Agnipath Protests: Anand Mahindra Announces Recruitment of Agniveers, Calls Them ‘Eminently Employable’

The Agnipath scheme, announced on June 14, provides for the recruitment of youths between the age bracket of 17-and-half years to 21 for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years.

New Delhi: In wake of the growing tension over Agnipath, the proposed scheme of the Central government for short-term services in the Indian armed forces, spreading from one state to another, Mahindra group chairman Anand Mahindra on Monday announced that his company ‘welcomes the opportunity to recruit such trained, capable young people’. Saddened by the ongoing protests, Mahindra took to Twitter and wrote,” Saddened by the violence around the Agneepath program. When the scheme was mooted last year I stated- and I repeat-the discipline and skills Agniveers gain will make them eminently employable. The Mahindra Group welcomes the opportunity to recruit such trained, capable young people.”

He further added, “Large potential for employment of Agniveers in the Corporate Sector. With leadership, teamwork and physical training, agniveers provide market-ready professional solutions to industry, covering the full spectrum from operations to administration & supply chain management.”

Saddened by the violence around the #Agneepath program. When the scheme was mooted last year I stated-& I repeat-the discipline & skills Agniveers gain will make them eminently employable. The Mahindra Group welcomes the opportunity to recruit such trained, capable young people

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) June 20, 2022

Large potential for employment of Agniveers in the Corporate Sector. With leadership, teamwork & physical training, agniveers provide market-ready professional solutions to industry, covering the full spectrum from operations to administration & supply chain management https://t.co/iE5DtMAQvY

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) June 20, 2022

The Agnipath scheme, announced on June 14, provides for the recruitment of youths between the age bracket of 17-and-half years to 21 for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years. Later the government extended the upper age limit to 23 years for recruitment in 2022. The personnel to be recruited under the new scheme will be known as ‘Agniveers’.

After the Agnipath scheme, which allows Indian youths to serve in the regular cadre of the Armed Forces for a period of four years, was announced on June 14, protests erupted in various states including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand and Assam. As the agitation intensified in some places, protestors went on the rampage setting trains on fire, torching vehicles and damaging both private and public properties.

A total of 46,000 Agniveers will be recruited this year but a top military officer said it will go up to 1.25 lakhs in near future. The entry age for all new recruits in the Armed Forces has been fixed as 17.5 to 21 years of age. However, following protests, the Central government announced an increase in the upper age limit for the recruitment of Agniveers from 21 years to 23 years for the recruitment cycle of 2022 as it has not been possible to undertake the recruitment during the last two years.

While the government points out that the ‘Agnipath’ scheme gives a golden opportunity to the youth to join the defence system and serve the country, Congress had said the recruitment policy is controversial, carries multiple risks, subverts the long-standing traditions and ethos of the armed forces and there is no guarantee that the soldiers recruited under the scheme will be better trained and motivated to defend the country.