Agnipath Scheme: Govt extends upper age limit to 23

The decision to increase age limit has been taken as no recruitment had taken place in the last two years due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Amid protest across the country against Agnipath scheme, Government has grants one-time waiver in the upper age limit. Central government has extended the upper age limit to 23 years from 21 years.

As per a notification issued by the Ministry of Defense, the decision to increase age limit has been taken as no recruitment had taken place in the last two years due to COVID-19 pandemic.

“Consequent to the commencement of the Agnipath scheme, the entry age for all new recruits in the Armed Forces has been fixed as 17 - 21 years of age. Cognizant of the fact that it has not been possible to undertake the recruitment during the last two years, the Government has decided that a one-time waiver shall be granted for the proposed recruitment cycle for 2022,” reads statement from MoD.

It further reads: “Accordingly, the upper age limit for the recruitment process for Agnipath scheme for 2022 is increased to 23 years.”

The Defense Ministry launched the Agnipath scheme on Tuesday to recruit soldiers in armed forces on contractual basis for four years.

Following this announcement, students came out on streets demanding scheme rollback. The flames of agitation which started in Bihar reached the entire country as as students from states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Himachal Pradesh blocked road and rail traffic demanding the rollback of the Agnipath scheme.

'Agnipath' or 'Agniveer' scheme is a process for recruiting soldiers in the Army, Navy and Air force, to be hired for a term of four years on contract.

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