General Upendra Dwivedi, the Chief of the Indian Army Staff, has called the Agnipath recruitment scheme a "great success", stating that Agniveers have shown a high urge to learn and are delivering effectively.
Speaking at the India Today Conclave 2025, General Dwivedi addressed the ongoing feedback on the scheme and the changes being considered to enhance its effectiveness.
"I am getting the first-hand feedback...this scheme (Agnipath) is proving to be a very great success and crème de la crème which is coming to us and their urge to learn is somehow comparatively very very high,” he said. "As far as their capability to deliver whatever we wanted them to deliver in three to four years they're able to deliver."
The Army chief outlined key areas being reviewed to improve the scheme. These include: Aligning leave policies of Agniveers with regular soldiers, harmonising casualty benefits for Agniveers with serving personnel, and increasing technical recruitment by raising the maximum age limit from 21 to 23.
"We are already working on various issues. For example, we are looking at that their leave should be synergised with the normal soldiers' leave. When he becomes a casualty, is it required to be harmonised with the serving soldier? Similarly, we want more technically qualified people — should we increase the age from 21 to 23? So these are some issues which we are looking at, and it’s working well,” he explained.
When asked about the possibility of increasing the retention rate of Agniveers from 25% to 50%, General Dwivedi said it was too early to decide and that a clearer picture would emerge by December 2026. "So this is an evolutionary process, and it is too premature for us to take that decision. I think this decision we should leave it somewhere up till December 2026 to look into what is required and what is not,” he said.
General Dwivedi highlighted how Agniveers’ ability to unlearn and relearn makes them better suited for the fast-changing nature of warfare and technology. “I will use the term in the age of acceleration, something called creative destruction. Why this term is important? Because what we see here is that technology is changing so fast. A man has to learn something, he has to unlearn and learn a new skill. Now, Agniveer has that potential because somebody who has been working on a particular thing for 10-15-20 years finds it very difficult to unlearn and learn a new thing. But for Agniveers, it’s very easy. And with the kind of technological changes taking place, the creative destruction concept — I think we will be more happy with the Agniveers,” he said.
In September 2024, India Today reported that the Centre was considering tweaks to the Agnipath scheme, including raising the retention percentage of Agniveers, modifying emoluments, and adjusting entitlements.
Currently, only 25% of Agniveers are retained for long-term service, a figure that military experts believe is too low. According to senior Defence Ministry officials, the Army has recommended increasing retention to 50% to maintain combat strength and ensure continuity in training.
The Agnipath scheme, introduced in 2022, aimed to make the armed forces leaner and reduce pension liabilities. It allows youth to serve in the Army, Navy, and Air Force for four years, after which only a quarter are retained for permanent service.