Amid Agnipath stir, Govt increases upper age limit to 23 years as one-time waiver

New Delhi: Amid escalating violent protests against the radical new Agnipath scheme to recruit soldiers only for four years, the government late on Thursday night announced the upper age limit for candidates will now be increased to 23 from 21 as a one-time waiver.

The decision has been taken as no recruitment has taken place in the last two years, the government said in a release.

"​Cognizant of the fact that it has not been possible to undertake the recruitment during the last two years, the Government has decided that a one-time waiver shall be granted for the proposed recruitment cycle for 2022," the government said.

Violence erupted on Tuesday after the government announced an overhaul of recruitment for India's 1.38 million-strong armed forces, looking to bring down the average age of personnel and reduce pension expenditure. The protests have spread to 10 states, including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Delhi.

The new system had assured to bring in men and women between the ages of 17-and-a-half and 21 for a four-year tenure, with only a quarter retained for longer periods.

The BJP has come under fire with hundreds of potential recruits protesting against the shorter tenure.

The government has launched an outreach campaign. In a series of tweets, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry posted facts related to the Agnipath schemes in the public domain. A detailed document titled "Myths vs Facts", which seeks to "dispel misconceptions", was also shared by government sources.

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The government has also put out a 10-point defence of the scheme and assured recruits they will not find themselves in the lurch after completing their four years in the military.