GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 6th July. Following the completion of the registration process under the new Agnipath scheme on Tuesday, the Indian Air Force received the highest number of applications for recruitment into the Force, surpassing the previous best recruitment cycle numbers.
The IAF began the registration process on June 24, 10 days after the Centre launched the Agnipath scheme.
According to the IAF, the highest number of applications received in any recruitment cycle was 6,31,528 in 2016, which was surpassed this year by the Agnipath scheme, which received 7,49,899 applications.
“The online registration process conducted by #IAF towards #AgnipathRecruitmentScheme has been completed. Compared to 6,31,528 applications in the past, which was the highest in any recruitment cycle, this time 7,49,899 applications have been received,” IAF tweeted on Tuesday.
The number comes despite the protests in various parts of the country against the newly launched scheme.
Notably, some protests had turned violent, demanding that the scheme be scrapped. However, on June 19, Lt General Anil Puri, Additional Secretary, Dept of Military Affairs, MoD, clarified that the programme will not be rolled back and that it is the “only progressive step to make the country young.”
“Coming to the rollback of the scheme, no. Why should it be rolled back? It is the only progressive step to making the country young. Why is it being made young? We are tinkering with ‘Desk ki Raksha (national security). There is no space. I will give you an example. Do you know how many casualties are reported just for health purposes from high-altitude areas? Do read about it, then you would come to know why being young is important,” the officer said.
He also urged the youth to “start preparing” instead of “wasting their time” by taking to the streets.
Lt Gen Anil Puri, Additional Secretary Department of Military Affairs had said, “By going to the streets, they are only wasting their time, they should spend this time to get themselves physically ready. The worst issue is that today we are not what we were 10 years back. Everything is interconnected. Why Roger your future? It’s not worth it. I appeal to them to start preparing.”
The officer, while explaining the motive of the scheme, said that it was designed keeping the youth in mind.
“We have thought through the scheme which has been designed keeping the youth of the country in mind. We know that in the coming days that the youth of the country will be less than 25 years, 50 per cent of them. And the Indian Army has to be reflective of this,” Lt Gen Puri had said.
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