Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma hailed the Centre's 'Agnipath' scheme terming it a 'historic step '.

Taking to Twitter Sarma wrote, "AGNIPATH - In a historic step steered by Hon RM Shri @rajnathsingh ji, so proud that Cabinet today cleared a first-of-its-kind recruitment scheme for youth into the Armed Forces. A momentous day for our youth and we're grateful to Hon PM Shri @narendramodi ji. Congratulations."

"The youth will be recruited for a period of four years. It will provide an opportunity to aspiring youth keen to don uniform by attracting young talent from society, in tune with contemporary tech trends and plough back skilled, disciplined & motivated manpower into the society," added Sarma.

"On behalf of our youth of the Nation, I express my gratitude to Hon PM and RM. The nation stands to immensely benefit by infusion of highly inspired youth with deeper understanding of self-discipline, diligence & focus who would be adequately skilled," the Assam CM tweeted.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh unveiled a new scheme called "Agnipath" for the recruitment of soldiers in the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, largely on a short-term contractual basis, with an aim to cut the ballooning salary and pensions bill.

"The Cabinet Committee on Security has taken a historic decision today to approve the transformative scheme of 'Agnipath'. Under this, Indian youth would be granted an opportunity to get inducted into the Armed services. Under the 'Agnipath' scheme, efforts are to create a youthful profile of the Armed forces," Singh said while addressing a press conference in the national capital today.

The Union Minister said, "It would help to train them for new technologies and also improve their health levels. This scheme will increase employment opportunities with new skills in different sectors."

The Defence Minister said that the entire nation, especially our youth, treats the armed forces with respect. "Every child aspires to wear an army uniform at some point in their lifetime," he said.

Asking the youth to have a "youthful profile", he said, "Youthful profile will also have the advantage that they can be easily trained for new technologies, and their health and fitness level will also be better."

Agnipath scheme aims to make the Army a future-ready fighting force capable of meeting multiple challenges across the full spectrum of conflict, Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pande said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the press conference today, the Indian Army chief said, "Agnipath scheme aims to make the Army a future-ready fighting force capable of meeting multiple challenges across the full spectrum of conflict and it will increase the technical threshold of the Army by recruiting 'Agniveers' through ITIs and other tech-institutes."

The Army chief highlighted that 'Agniveers' will be assimilated and integrated into Army in every way. "We will institute a fair, transparent and scientific method in screening initial intake of four years and apply similar yardsticks to select those who will get enrolled... 'Agniveers' will be assimilated and integrated into Army in every way," he said.

"There won't be any compromise on the skillset of Agniveers. We will deploy Agniveers on borders," Chief Of Army Staff General Manoj Pande said.

(With Inputs from ANI)