Age relaxation in Agnipath shows government cares for the youth: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh

General Manoj Pande welcomes government decision for a one-time, two-year relaxation in the upper age limit for recruitment into the armed forces

New Delhi: In an attempt to quell the anger of the protesting youth across the country, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday that the government’s decision to give a one-time, two-year relaxation in the upper age limit for recruitment in the armed forces under the new Agnipath scheme shows that the government cares for the youth.

He said that the government has announced “a one-time upper age limit relaxation for the recruitment process through Agnipath scheme for 2022 to 23 years” and this “indicates that the government cares for our youth”.

The Department of Military Affairs, Ministry of Defence, and the services, he said, “are committed to commence the recruitment process at the earliest, we invite youth of our country to join Indian armed forces and serve the nation through Agnipath”.

As protests against the government’s new recruitment policy for the armed forces continue unabated, Army Chief General Manoj Pande welcomed the government’s decision for the age relaxation. The decision to allow youth up to age of 23 years to be eligible under the scheme this year as recruitment had been stalled since 2020 was announced late on Thursday evening.

He also mentioned that the recruitment schedule will be announced soon

Pande said in a statement on Friday morning that this relaxation will give many aspirants, who had prepared for the last two years, an opportunity to be considered.