The first Agniveers finish four years: the services seek changes and two States offer quotas

• The Centre announced the Agnipath scheme in June 2022. The scheme replaced the old recruitment of soldiers, sailors and airmen below officer rank with a four year engagement.
• Recruits join at 17.5 to 21 years. The four years include six months of training. At the end, the services keep up to 25 per cent of each batch in the regular cadre for a full career. The other 75 per cent leave.
• The scheme's two aims were a younger force and a lower pension bill. The pension of a soldier who serves fifteen years runs for decades after.

The unit

• Every soldier recruited below officer rank since 2022 is an Agniveer. The first exit is the moment the design meets the units. A unit now loses three in four of that batch at once and must train their replacements from scratch.

The skills

• A unit builds its skills over years. A four year term leaves less time to train on complex weapons, so the services must weigh a younger profile against lost experience.

The 75 per cent

• The 75 per cent who leave are 21 to 25 years old, with four years of military training and ₹11.7 lakh. Whether they find work decides whether the country sees the scheme as an opportunity or as a four year contract.

The Central Armed Police Forces are the first door. Haryana's exemptions and Assam's quota are the first State notifications that the first batch can use.

• Make the transition concrete: a national skill certificate for the four years, bridging courses and a single window for Central and State security jobs.
• Settle the State quotas on one principle before every State writes its own, so that a former Agniveer's prospects do not depend on the State of birth.