The Army has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with eleven banks for providing banking facilities to Agniveers after they don the uniform. The MoUs were signed by Lt Gen V Sreehari, DG (MP & PS) and senior officials of Banks in a ceremony presided over by Lt Gen C Bansi Ponappa, the Adjutant General of the Indian Army, on Friday, the defence ministry said.
From January, next year, the first batch of Agniveers, being recruited through the “Agnipath Scheme”, will be joining Training Centres to commence their journey in uniform.
The banks are State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Yes Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IDFC First Bank, and Bandhan Bank. The features and benefits offered under Agniveer Salary Package are similar to the Defence Salary Package, said the ministry.
In addition, the banks have offered soft loans to exiting Agniveers to promote and enhance their entrepreneurial skills. The Agniveers will have a four-year contractual job, and a certain percentage of them would be absorbed in the forces while the remaining will get exit opportunities as the Government has fixed quotas for them in central armed police forces. The new human resource policy is applicable to Army, Air Force, and Navy for the constabulary.