Agnipath scheme: Post violent backlash, age limit raised to 23 as a "one-time" change

Amidst nationwide protests which erupted against the new model of enrollment of soldiers, the Centre announced that it has raised the age limit for the Agnipath military recruitment scheme to 23 from 21. This was announced on Thursday night, June 16.

"The Government has decided that a one-time waiver shall be granted for the proposed recruitment cycle for 2022," said a post from the Press Bureau of India on Twitter, the micro-blogging platform.

"Government grants one-time waiver in the upper age limit for Agnipath scheme by extending it to 23 years from 21 years. The decision has been taken as no recruitment had taken place in the last two years," informed the Defence Ministry, as stated in a tweet put out by ANI.

Previously, the age limit when it comes to new recruits under this new scheme, Agnipath, was 17-and-a-half to 21 years. Also, it is noteworthy that this age waiver is only for this time, for the recruitment cycle for 2022.

Violent protests had erupted in several states across India like Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and more. This happened after Tuesday, June 15, post the Centre's announcement of overhauling recruitment of armed forces, bringing down average age and reducing pension expenditure.

The government even launched an outreach campaign on Twitter, highlighting the Myths vs Facts via the Twitter handle of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry in an attempt to clear the air.