The Ministry of Defence (MoD), Ministry of Education (MoE), and Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), all the three Services exchanged MoUs with various stakeholders to facilitate the continued education of Agniveers while serving in the Armed Forces and award of appropriate skill certificates by their expertise/experience.
Under these MoUs with the National Institute of Open School (NIOS) and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), suitable Class 12 certificates and Bachelor’s degrees will be awarded to the Agniveers respectively.
In his virtual speech at the MoU Exchange Ceremony, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said ‘Outreach program stated that Agnipath is a game-changing program for the Armed Forces that will act as a force multiplier in making the Indian military one of the best in the world with a young, high-tech, and ultra-modern outlook.
The job roles/skill sets of Agniveers, while being trained and deployed with the Armed Forces, have been mapped with National Occupational Standards (NOS), in coordination with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and Sector Skill Councils (SSCs). Based on these qualifications, market-ready and industry-accepted, ‘Kaushal Praman Patra’ will be issued to Agniveers at the time of their exit from the Armed Forces.
To seamlessly facilitate the process, various departments of MoSDE have extensively collaborated in the Armed Forces and awarded Dual Category recognition as the Awarding Body (AB) and Assessment Agency (AA) by the National Council of Vocational Education and Training (NCVET). In addition, the Directorate General of Training (DGT) under MoSDE would also facilitate the award of the National Trade Certificate (NTC) to Agniveers.
Mr. Singh said the signing of these MoUs will enable Agniveers to finish their education on time and acquire new skills and traits. Agniveers will help in nation-building when they return to society after acquiring all these qualities, he further said.
The Defence Minister added that helping ‘Agniveers’ would be a win-win situation for all as they will not only become ‘Surakshaveers’ for the nation by rendering their services in the Armed Forces but also become ‘Samriddhiveers’ by contributing to the nation’s prosperity. They will be beneficial for the whole society contributing to the nation building through their education, skill, discipline, and other qualities. In addition to it, they would inspire the youth to become Agniveer, he said.
The Government launched the Agnipath scheme on June 15, 2022, to recruit both male and female aspirants into the ‘below the officer’s rank’ cadre of the three services for four years as Agniveers. Candidates between the age group of 17.5 to 21 years are eligible to apply for the scheme. These Agniveers would undergo optimized basic military training and specialized trade training followed by up-skilling courses, as required.
The scheme facilitates potential youth to realize their dream of serving the Nation through the Armed Forces. The expectation is that exposure through Agnipath Scheme and fostered allegiance to Naam, Namak, and Nishan would shape Agniveers into Nation Builders.
The ceremony was attended by senior officials of the Ministry of Defence, and various ministries, including the Chief of Defence Staff and also Chiefs of all three Services.
