The Centre on Wednesday (November 4) greenlit a path for all Agniveers undergoing training in the three services to join the armed forces as regular soldiers. This marks a major overhaul of the scheme, as it would mean all Agniveers will now have an opportunity to join the three branches of the armed forces — the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force (IAF) — as regular soldiers.

This comes just around the time the first batches of Agniveers were to complete their four-year tenure starting this month.

Agniveers refer to individuals selected under the Agnipath scheme, wherein candidates between the age of 17 years 6 months and 21 years meeting certain eligibility criteria can apply to seek recruitment in the Indian armed forces for a four-year period.

So, does the revamp mean that the armed forces are returning to regular recruitment of soldiers as was carried out in the pre-Covid years? If not, how is the overhauled scheme different from regular recruitment of troops?…