Haryana: Thousands queue up for 'Agnipath' recruitment rally

Hisar (Haryana) [India], August 14 (ANI): Thousands of aspirants from four districts of Haryana, namely Jind, Hisar, Sirsa and Fatehabad, participated in the Agniveer recruitment rally that commenced at Hisar Cantonment Centre on August 12.
Zonal Recruitment Officer (ZRO) Major General Ranjan Mahajan at Hisar recruitment centre said," 85 rallies will be conducted from August to December. 11 rallies will be conducted to induct women in the military police. Around 40,000 agniveers will be recruited and lakhs of candidates have applied or they are in process."
Major General Mahajan also highlighted that Sunday marked the third day of the recruitment of the rally.
"Today was the third day of the recruitment rally covering four districts. "We are conducting it on the occasion of the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav,' which makes it even more significant. Four more rallies are underway in other cities," Mahajan added.
The ZRO emphasised that the whole recruitment process is transparent with various checks and balances in place.
One of the aspirants, Gagan Tiwari, said he had dreamt of joining the army since he was a child and was happy with the arrangements.
"I started preparing two years ago. There are adequate arrangements for food and water here. The 'Agniveer' is a welcome scheme," he said.
The "transformative" Agnipath scheme, announced by Union Minister Rajanath Singh on June 14, in the presence of the three service chiefs provides for the recruitment into the armed services of youths in the age bracket of 17-and-a-half-years to 21 for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years. The Centre later extended the upper age limit to 23 years for recruitment in 2022.
The Union Cabinet also approved the Agnipath scheme on June 14 and the youth selected under this scheme will be known as Agniveers.
The government had announced that 46,000 Agniveers to be recruited this year. It had said that the armed forces will have "a younger, fitter, diverse profile" to face future challenges.
There have been protests against the Agnipath scheme in some states and the government has announced support measures to allay apprehensions. (ANI)