New Delhi: The Indian Navy has received 3.03 lakh applications under the Agnipath military recruitment scheme, informed the Defence Ministry on Saturday.
The Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, tweeted that a total of 3,03,328 applications were received till July 22, which is 21 days after the recruitment process began. The Indian Navy opened the window on July 2, under the scheme.
Under the Agnipath scheme, youths between the ages of 17-and-a-half and 23 years would be inducted for a four-year tenure, while 25 percent of them will be subsequently inducted for regular service.
The scheme was unveiled on June 14, following which there were violent protests against it in several states for nearly a week and several opposition parties demanded its rollback.
The government had on June 16 increased the upper age limit for recruitment under the scheme to 23 years from 21 for the year 2022, and subsequently announced a slew of placatory steps like a preference for Agniveers in central paramilitary forces and defence public sector undertakings upon their retirement.
Meanwhile, the Railway Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, on Friday said that 2132 trains were cancelled between June 15 and June 23. Additionally, the Union Railway Minister said that Indian Railways suffered a loss of ₹259.44 crores due to damage and destruction while the protests against the Agnipath Scheme.