Hyderabad: The training of the first batch of Agniveers selected as part of the newly launched Agnipath scheme of the Central Government started at the Artillery Center in Golconda, Hyderabad on Tuesday. While 40 thousand firemen will be recruited in the Army this year, most of them will be trained in Hyderabad. The training of the first batch started on January 2 and will continue for 8 months.
Against this backdrop, the training methods of Agniveers and the training facilities of the center were showcased to the media on Monday. Shedding more light on the schedule, Artillery Center Commandant Brigadier Rajeev Chauhan said, “We have designed systematic and scientifically relevant programs in a much better way. The first 10 weeks consist of physical exercise, drills, basic weapons training, and then advanced military training,” he said. The training of 2,265 Agniveers has started in the first batch, he added.
Most of the firemen of this batch, who were selected from different parts of the country, are from farmer families. The second batch of training for another 3,300 people will start in the same center in March, Chauhan said.
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The Artillery Center in Golconda is one of the largest training centers for Agniveers in the country. After completing the training here, one has to work for more than three years in different units. Depending on the vacancies in military recruitment, 25 percent of meritorious Agniveers will be recruited into the army.
“Unlike the training given to soldiers in the past, we are now using technology. We are making them master the English language. We are preparing them mentally and physically. Apart from this, we are encouraging sports and education,'' Artillery Center Commandant Brigadier Rajeev Chauhan said. On the occasion, Tatarao, an Agniveer belonging to a farmer family from Zilleduvalasa of Srikakulam district, said he wanted to join the Army right from the beginning.
He said after completing B Sc, he attempted to join the army in 2019. “At that time I could not come to the rally due to different reasons. I was selected for training in the exams conducted last year for the newly introduced Agnipath. My childhood dream of joining the army came true. At present we are learning to expertise in weapon training,'' Tatarao said.
