NEW DELHI: The second phase of recruitment of Agniveers for the armed forces, under the central government’s Agnipath scheme, is about to begin, but this time an amended procedure will be put in place. The decision has been taken to prevent crowding at the exam centres which may lead to chaos.
Online applications for registration for the test will be available from mid-February for a period of one month, sources confirmed on Saturday. An online Common Entrance Exam (CEE) will be held prior to the physical tests and medical exam. For the recruitment of the first batch of Agniveers, held in June last year, the physical tests and the medical exam were conducted first.
“The first online CEE is scheduled to be held in April 2023 at approximately 200 locations pan-India, for which all preparations have been finalised,” according to a source.
The change in the process will ensure an increased focus on cognitive aspects during selection, official sources said. “It will have a wider outreach across the country and also reduce the large crowds seen during recruitment rallies, in order to make them more manageable,” a source said.
The government announced the Agnipath Scheme in June last year to recruit personnel to the ‘other ranks’ (soldiers, sailors and airmen). Under the scheme, youth will be inducted into the armed forces initially for four years.
Once the four-year service is over, all of them will have to leave and a re-induction process will be held to take in 25% of them to serve as a permanent cadre of the forces.