NEW DELHI: While appreciating the Centre's Agnipath scheme for providing opportunities to youth in India, Infosys co-founder and chairman Nandan Nilekani on Saturday said his company will follow its own selection criteria for recruiting people at the company.
While speaking at the 41st Annual General Meeting, Nilekani said that Infosys recognizes the potential of the output of the Agniveer scheme introduced by the government. "We believe this is a great opportunity for youth not only to start the career in a very disciplined ecosystem but it will also help build skills for the future career. Infosys is always looking to expand a talent pool and we will follow our well-established selection criteria while recruiting employees," Nilekani said.
He was responding to a query raised by a shareholder on if Infosys will consider providing jobs to Agniveers. Infosys has over 3 lakh employees across the globe of which 39.6 per cent are women.
Corporate leaders like Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran, Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Apollo Hospitals group managing director Sangita Reddy and others have come out in support of the Agnipath scheme.
The Agnipath scheme, announced on June 14, provides for the recruitment of youth in the age bracket of 17-and-half to 21 years for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years.
Later, the government extended the upper age limit to 23 years for recruitment in 2022. However, massive protests have erupted in many states, including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, with youths taking to the streets to express their dissatisfaction with the scheme.