Top brass of 3 services to be present at military briefing on Agnipath today

New Delhi: Amidst protests against the Agnipath scheme in various parts of the country, the top brass of the three services will be present at a military briefing scheduled to be held today.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chaired a meeting today on the Agnipath scheme at his residence. The meeting, presently underway at the Union Minister's residence, has the Tri-services chiefs in attendance. It has been learnt that the meeting focuses on ensuring a quick rollout of the 'Agnipath' scheme.

The Indian Army's Adjutant General Lieutenant General Bansi Ponappa, the Navy's Chief of Personnel Vice Admiral Dinesh Tripathi and the Air Force's Personnel in-charge Air Marshal Suraj Jha will be present at the press conference on the Agnipath scheme later today.

This is the second such meeting called by Rajnath Singh in two days.

In a significant move, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Saturday announced an important decision to reserve 10 per cent vacancies in Central Armed Police Forces and Assam Rifles for Agniveers.

In a series of tweets, the Ministry of Home Affairs said, "The Ministry of Home Affairs decides to reserve 10 per cent vacancies for recruitment in CAPFs and Assam Rifles for Agniveers."

"The MHA also decides to give 3 years age relaxation beyond the prescribed upper age limit to Agniveers for recruiting in CAPFs and Assam Rifles. Further, for the first batch of Agniveer, the age relaxation will be for 5 years beyond the prescribed upper age limit," the MHA added.

It is pertinent to note that, upon completion of their four years tenure, Agniveers will be getting selection priorities under CAPF's all the seven different security forces comprising Assam Rifles (AR), Border Security Forces (BSF), Central Industrial Security Forces (CISF), Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF), Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), National Security Guard (NSG) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).

Earlier speaking of the employment opportunities for Agniveers, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that upon completion of four years of Agniveers many central ministers and state governments including Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and corporations will give them job priorities.

"In coming days you will get the announcement by various governments and ministries regarding the priority in job opportunities to Agniveers," the Defence Minister added.

Earlier, in a welcome move, the government had announced a change in recruiting 'Agniveers', increasing the maximum entry age from 21 years to 23 years by giving two years of relaxation as a one-time waiver. Granting a one-time waiver, the Union government declared that the Agniveer upper age limit for recruitments via Agnipath Scheme has been extended to 23 years from 21 years.

Issuing an official statement on Agnipath Scheme, the Ministry of Defence mentioned that the one-time waiver in the upper age limit has been granted as recruitment during the two years had not been possible. (ANI)