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Agnipath scheme: Banks, Financial institutions to ensure employment options for Agniveers
To support the ‘Agniveers’ on completion of their te
nure of duty, various Public sector banks, public sector insurance firms, and financial institutions will explore employment opportunities for soldiers recruitment under the Agnipath scheme.
The decision was taken at a meeting convened by the Department of Financial Services of the Ministry of Finance in the national capital.
“To identify ways in which the Banks and Financial Institutions can support the ‘Agniveers’ on completion of their tenure of duty, the Secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS) held a meeting with Chief Executives of Public Sector Banks (PSBs), Public Sector Insurance Companies (PICCs) and Financial Institutions (FIs),” Ministry of Finance stated.
Further, it was stated that PSBs, PSICs, and FIs would explore employment opportunities for ‘Agniveers’ in suitable capacities based on their educational qualifications & skills through suitable benefits/relaxations, among others.
Notably, Banks would explore possibilities of supporting ‘Agniveers’ through suitable credit facilities for skill up-gradation, education for setting up ventures, and businesses to in-still the notion of entrepreneurship.
Importantly, the present Government schemes such as MUDRA Yojana, and Stand Up India scheme among others would be leveraged for extending such support to these soldiers.
DoT to provide employment options for Agniveers
Recently, the Department of Telecom (DoT) held a meeting with all the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) and discussed ‘Ways and Means’ of how the telecom sector, in general, can utilize the talent, discipline, and acquired skills of the trained ‘Agniveers’ who will be coming out after 4 years of service.
It is pertinent to note that representatives of all the 4 TSPs (Airtel, BSNL, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone-Idea) attended the meeting along with Senior Officers of DoT.
During discussions, some areas were identified in which engagement/ employment of ‘Agniveers’ could be done.
The areas included Optical Fibre Maintenance, Air Conditioning equipment, Provision of infrastructure especially last-mile connectivity, Fibre to Home (FTTH), and Customer Interface areas.
The telecom service providers also agreed that the talent pool of trained/skilled and disciplined youth could be an asset for the country including the telecom sector.
It was decided that TSPs would shortly revert with inputs on specific trades/skill sets they were looking for.
The Union Cabinet on June 14, 2022, approved the transformative Agnipath recruitment scheme for Indian youth to serve in the Armed Forces.