New Delhi, Jun 15 (PTI) The operational effectiveness of the armed forces will enhance with the rollout of the "Agnipath" scheme as the risk-taking capability of the personnel to be recruited under it would be higher because of their younger age profile, officials said on Wednesday.

The government unveiled the scheme on Tuesday for the recruitment of soldiers in the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, largely on a four-year short-term contractual basis, in a major overhaul of the decades-old selection process.

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Under the scheme, youngsters between the ages of 17 and a half and 21 years will be inducted into the three services. After the completion of the four-year tenure, the scheme provides for retaining 25 per cent of the recruits for regular service.

"The operational effectiveness of the armed forces will be enhanced by this scheme. By having a younger profile, which is more fighting fit with less encumbrances, it is expected that the risk-taking capability of these personnel would be higher," a senior official said.

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Lieutenant General Anil Puri, Additional Secretary in the Department of Military Affairs, on Tuesday said the new recruitment scheme is set to bring down the average age of a soldier from the current 32 years to 24-26 years in six to seven years.

The officials said the present pattern of selection in the armed forces is not being changed with the introduction of the scheme.

They said the only change that is happening is in the terms and conditions of the service.

"As all of you are aware, the three services have well-established selection centres spread over the country, which have enabled them to recruit people from even the remotest part of the nation," an official said.

"Since these very selection centres would continue to undertake the responsibility of recruiting personnel, we expect that the all-India representation would not be affected by the introduction of the scheme," he added.

The officials said the Indian Army will retain the regimental system, as the new scheme envisages selecting the best of the "Agniveers".

"We shall be retaining the regimental system since the scheme envisages selecting the best of the "Agniveers" and only those who proved their mettle, the cohesiveness of the unit would be ensured by these personnel," the official said.

"Further, these aspects would be focussed upon and accentuated by the training received once the Agniveer reaches the unit," he said.

The officials said with the infusion of technology and revamping of the training programme, the armed forces would ensure that the personnel inducted under the scheme have the same skill sets that are required to meet the operational challenges.

"Since the training standards are clearly defined, and monitored by the highest authorities in the armed forces, it would be ensured that the 'Agniveers' meet the highest professional standards," said the official cited above.

The personnel to be inducted under the Agnipath scheme would be known as "Agniveers".

The armed forces will recruit 46,000 "Agniveers" this year under the scheme.

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 with an equal contribution from the government.

Subsequently, the monthly salary in the second, third and fourth year will be Rs 33,000, Rs 36,500 and Rs 40,000.

Each "Agniveer" will get an amount of Rs 11.71 lakh as the "Seva Nidhi Package" and it will be exempted from income tax.

The recruitment process under the Agnipath scheme would start in 90 days.

The scheme is also expected to cut the ballooning salary and pensions bills of the armed forces as there will be no entitlement to gratuity and pensionary benefits.

The new recruits will be provided a non-contributory life insurance cover of Rs 48 lakh for the duration of their engagement period in the armed forces, according to the defence ministry.

The four-year tenure under the new scheme will include a training period of around two-and-a-half months to six months.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)