Agnipath aspirants must pledge they did not take part in violence: Defence ministry

New Delhi, Jun 19: Agnipath aspirants must give an undertaking that they were not part of any violent protest or incident of arson that have broken out across the country, top defence officers said today.

"Indian Army's foundation in discipline. No space for arson, vandalism. Every individual will give a certificate that they were not part of protest or vandalism. Police verification is 100%, no one can join without that," said Lt General Anil Puri, Addit'l Secy, Dept of Military Affairs, briefing media.

"And if any FIR lodged against them, they can't join...They (aspirants) will be asked to write as part of the enrollment form that they were not part of the arson, their police verification will be done," he said.

"We had not anticipated the recent violence over this scheme. There is no place for indiscipline in the Armed Forces. All candidates will have to give a written pledge that they did not indulge in any arson/violence," he further said.

The defence ministry's statement comes at a time when several parts of the country witnessed violent protests against the scheme that largely provides for a four-year tenure on a contractual basis and does not offer pensions and other benefits that regular soldiers are given.

Unveiling the scheme on Tuesday, the government said youths between the age of 17 and-a-half and 21 years would be inducted for a four-year tenure while 25 per cent of them will be subsequently inducted for regular service.

The youths to be recruited under the new scheme would be called 'Agniveer'. A major objective of the scheme is to bring down the average age of military personnel and cut ballooning salary and pension bills.

In an attempt to pacify the protesters, the government on Thursday night increased the upper age limit for recruitment under the 'Agnipath' scheme to 23 years from 21 for the year 2022.

The monthly salary of an 'Agniveer' in the first year of employment would be Rs 30,000 and the in-hand amount would be Rs 21,000 as Rs 9,000 would go to a corpus with an equal contribution from the government. Subsequently, the monthly salary in the second, third and fourth year will be Rs 33,000, Rs 36,500 and Rs 40,000.