Six months after the government announced the new defence recruitment scheme, the first-ever batch of future Agniveers, selected under the Agnipath scheme, have started military training in different centres across the country.
The thousands of candidates inducted as Agniveers from across India– after four phases of gruelling, testing, and filtering process– will undergo rigorous training for the next six months before becoming a part of the Indian Army.
The training programmes which began in the first week of January have been enmeshed with activities to improve the physical and mental endurance of the trainees.
The government of India launched the Agnipath Scheme last year in June. The scheme is just for recruiting highly skilled soldiers–known as Agniveers– and not officers in the forces. Women are also included in the first batch of ‘Agniveers’, according to a report by Financial Express.
Where are 1st batches of Agniveeers trained?
The various regimental centres across India where the training of the first batch of Agniveers has started include, Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry, Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir); Artillery Training Centre, Hyderabad (Telangana); Armored Corps Training Centre, Ahmednagar (Maharashtra); Artillery Training Centre, Nashik (Maharashtra); The Guards Regimental Centre, Nagpur (Maharashtra); Punjab Regimental Centre, Ramgarh (Jharkhand); Sikh Regiment Centre, Ramgarh (Jharkhand); Jakrif Regimental Centre, Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh); One (1) STC. Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh); Bihar Regimental Centre, Danapur (Bihar); Kumaon Regimental Centre, Ranikhet (Uttarakhand); Two (02) STC, (Goa).
The training for women Agniveers started at the Corps of Military Police, Bengaluru (Karnataka).
The training of Agniveers under the Air Force is underway at Airmen Training School (ATS) Belagavi (Karnataka), while of the Navy at NS Chilka, (Odisha).
Training Process of Agniveers
According to an Army spokesman, the selected Agniveers will undergo 10 weeks of basic military training (BMT). The course includes the basics of cyber security, firing, and communications, among other subjects. This will be followed up by 21 weeks of advanced military training (AMT) at the regimental centres.
2nd batch Training
The second batch of Agniveers will reportedly start reporting in mid-February. The training will commence on March 1.
The Agnipath Scheme
The Ministry of Defence had, in June 2022, unveiled the ‘Agnipath’ scheme, which is a pan-India merit-based recruitment programme for enrolling soldiers, airmen and sailors. Under the scheme, ‘Agniveers’ will be recruited between the ages of 17.5 and 21 years.
They will be provided with an opportunity to serve in the armed forces as ‘Agniveer’ for a period of four years, including a training period.
Under the scheme, 46,000 Agniveers will be recruited into the armed forces — including 40,000 for the Army and 3,000 each for the Navy and IAF.
Post exiting the services after four years, up to 25 per cent of them can apply voluntarily to join the services on a regular basis, depending on merit and organisational requirements. The remaining 75 per cent of Agnineers will be retired.
As per the amended regulations, the rank of Agniveer will be the last in the order of precedence — after JCOs, WOs, NCOs, Sepoys, Riflemen and their equivalents in the other two defence services.
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