Cabinet opens route for every Agniveer to join forces as a regular soldier

Every Agniveer will now have a route into the regular armed forces, after the Cabinet approved a second two-year engagement for those who are not picked for permanent service on merit.

Under the decision, 25% of Agniveers will be offered regular employment in the Defence Forces on merit, as envisaged earlier. For the remaining 75%, the Cabinet has approved another engagement period of two years, on the recommendation of the Indian Defence Forces. After it ends, all of them will be offered enrolment as regular soldiers, "subject to their willingness and their meeting selection criteria", the Defence Ministry said.

What changes

• The Agnipath scheme continues.
• The second engagement period will carry higher remuneration, an enhanced Seva Nidhi package and seniority benefits.
• The Cabinet "has created a pathway for absorption of all Agniveers into Defence Forces", the ministry said.

The ministry's reasoning

The ministry said an objective assessment of organisational requirements and operational efficiency had brought out the "outstanding performance" of Agniveers in skills, motivation, physical fitness and technological ability. It described the extra two years as the result of "deliberate, reasoned and elaborate evaluation and feedback", aimed at aligning the aspirations of Agniveers with organisational efficiency.

After four years of the scheme, the ministry listed these achievements: a wider recruitment footprint across districts, a more standardised and transparent recruitment process, very high levels of fitness and discipline, better skills and technological adaptability, and more branches of the forces opened to women.

What the release does not say

The release does not give the amount of the higher remuneration or the Seva Nidhi package, nor the number of Agniveers affected. Those details were not part of the announcement.

---

Source: official release by the Ministry of Defence, issued through the Press Information Bureau, Government of India (04 NOV 2026 4:14PM by PIB Delhi). Read the full official text: Cabinet creates a pathway for all Agniveers to be absorbed in Defence Forces.