Tour of Duty – Indian Army, Eligibility, Salary, Selection Process

What is the Tour of Duty Scheme?

Tour of Duty was promoted by the late Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Bipin Rawat. Tour of Duty is a new recruitment model in which civilians can be recruited into three services of the armed forces for four years.

• Soldiers, sailors and airmen will be enrolled through the Tour of Duty Scheme. It is a pan India merit-based recruitment.
• The Tour of Duty model was considered with the goal of recruiting approximately 46,000 personnel below officer rank in the three services each year via a biannual exercise with a six-month gap.
• Soldiers will be recruited for four years under the system.
• Applicants will start with a salary of Rs 30,000 which will increase to Rs 40,000 by the end of the fourth year.
• Under the Seva Nidhi scheme, approximately 30% of the salary will be set aside for savings, with the govt. contributing an equal amount each month.
• After four years, up to 25% of Agniveers will be selected as regular cadres based on a central, transparent, and rigorous system.

Latest Updates: TOD Army, Navy & Indian Air Force

• Tour of Duty Indian Army and Navy online registration begins from 01 July onwards.
• The TOD Air Force apply online process has been started on 24 June 2022. The last day to submit the application forms is 05 July.
• Under the Tour of Duty (TOD), also known as the Agneepath Scheme, the upper age limit for this year is increased to 23 years.
• Detailed notifications regarding the recruitment under the TOD scheme have been released by the Indian Army and Air Force. Indian Navy will soon release the notification for Tour of Duty recruitment.

TOD Army

TOD Indian Army notification has been released on 20 June 2022 on the official site. It contains the complete schedule of recruitment including syllabus, exam pattern, eligibility, salary, etc. In the following table, we are sharing important dates and official notification of the TOD Army.

Important Dates
TOD Indian Army	Notification Release: June 2022
	Online Registration Date: 01 July 2022
	Examination Start Date: From August 2022
	TOD Indian Army Notification PDF

Eligibility Criteria for Tour of Duty (ToD)

Candidates of age between 17 and a half to 21 years can apply for the Tour of Duty recruitment. The educational requirements for the Tour of Duty will remain the same as they are now for enrollment in multiple categories. As an example:

The educational requirement for entry as a General Duty (GD) soldier is 10th class. In the following table, we are sharing the education qualification, age criteria, and marital status required to apply for the Tour of Duty scheme.

Tour of Duty Eligibility	Details
Educational Qualification	Minimum 10th class pass
Tour of Duty Age Limit	17.5 – 21 years.
Who can Apply?	Both Male & Female candidates
Marital Status	The candidate’s marital status must be unmarried.

How to Apply for Tour of Duty?

For all three military forces, enrolment will be done through an online centralized system. Candidates must meet the medical eligibility requirements in order to enrol. Further details will soon be shared by the officials on the official website of the Government of India.

Tour of Duty Medical Standards

Candidates will have to meet the medical eligibility conditions laid out for the enrolment in the armed forces as applicable to respective categories or trades.

Tour of Duty (ToD) Salary

Tour of Duty cadets will be given an appealing customized monthly package, as well as Risk & Hardship allowances for each of the three services. Tour of Duty cadets will be paid a one-time ‘SevaNidhi’ package upon completion of the four-year engagement period, which will include their contribution plus accrued interest as well as a matching contribution from the govt. equal to the accumulated amount of their contribution plus interest, as shown below:

Year	Customized Package (Monthly)	In-Hand (70%)	Contribution to Agniveers Corpus Funds (30%)	Contribution to the corpus fund by the Govt. of India
All figures in INR (monthly contribution)
1st Year	30000	21000	9000	9000
2nd Year	33000	23100	9900	9900
3rd Year	36500	25580	10950	10950
4th Year	40000	28000	12000	12000
Total contribution in the Agniveer Corpus Fund after 4 yrs.	—	—	5.02 Lakhs	5.02 Lakhs
Exit after four year	INR 11.71 Lakh as SevaNidhi Package (In addition, interest accrued on the above amount at the applicable interest rates would be paid.)

Pay, Perks & Allowances of Tour of Duty Scheme

In the following table, we are sharing Pay, Perks & Allowances which will be given to cadets of the Tour of Duty scheme.

Tour of Duty Pay, Perks & Allowances	Details
Annual Package	1st year package approx. INR 4.76 Lakhs.
	Upgradation up to approx. INR 6.92 Lakhs in the fourth year.
Allowances	Risk & Hardship, Ration, Dress, Travel allowances as applicable.
Seva Nidhi	30 per cent of monthly emoluments to be contributed by the individuals.
	Equal amount matched & contributed by the govt.
	Corpus of approx. INR 11.71 Lakhs after four years, exempted from the Income Tax
Death Compensation	1st year package approx. INR 4.76 Lakhs. Upgradation up to approx. INR 6.92 Lakhs in the fourth year.
Disability Compensation	Compensation is based on per cent of disability laid down by the medical authorities.
	One-time Ex Gratia of INR 44/25/15 Lakhs for 100 per cent/75 per cent/50 per cent disability respectively.

Post Retirement Opportunities for Tour of Duty Cadets

• Candidates who will retire after 4 years of service in Tour of Duty will be given priority in CAPF and Assam rifles recruitment.
• As per the criteria, the Indian Armed Forces will try to give a class 12 certificate to a class 10 student who joins as an Agniveer.
• Remaining Agniveers will get assistance from the armed forces for further employment avenues.

Tour of Duty Recruitment Advantages and Disadvantages

Read in detail the advantages and concerns regarding the Tour of Duty recruitment scheme.

To Defence

• The move is likely to address a number of issues concerning the Armed Forces.
• The model will aid in filling open positions in the defence sector.
• Due to the COIVD-19 pandemic, there has been almost no recruitment of soldiers for the three services over the last two years.
• As per the data shared by the Defence Ministry in Parliament on 28th March, the Army has over 1 lakh vacant positions for Junior Commissioned Officers of other ranks.
• It will also benefit thousands of young people who want to join the Army, Navy, or Air Force.
• Soldiers on tour will ensure that a significant portion of the workforce is dedicated and skilled, increasing government and private sector output.

To Government

• Tour of Duty (ToD) will address the issue of personnel shortages while also reducing the burden of pay raises as well as pensions.
•  It will also result in a reduction in the average age of soldiers in units.
• ToD will aid in the reduction of pension payments made to retired soldiers. In the current fiscal year, the government has allocated nearly Rs 1.2 lakh Cr. for pensions to the Defence Ministry and in the Armed Forces, which is roughly a quarter of the total defence budget.
• According to one of the numerous projections included in the plan, comparing the costs incurred by the govt. for one soldier under the existing and proposed systems would result in a lifetime savings of Rs 11.5 Cr.
• The money saved on pay & bonuses can be used to fund much-needed military modernization.

Tour of Duty Scheme Concerns

• Experts are also concerned about the implementation of the Tour of Duty because most soldiers will now serve only for four years without a pension, as opposed to nearly 20 years with a pension under the current system.
• Concerns have also been raised about whether training, as well as tenure, will be adequate for some of the operations that these soldiers may be required to carry out.
• According to an initial Army proposal, it was planned to open up recruiting to the young people who didn’t want to make the military their permanent career and yet still wanted to experience the adventure of military professionalism, without relaxing the entry criteria.

Also Check:

• Indian Navy Agneepath Recruitment
• Indian Army Agneepath Recruitment
• Indian Air Force Agneepath Recruitment
• Agneepath Salary
• Agneepath Syllabus