Telangana: 1st batch of Agniveers arrive at Hyderabad Artillery Centre

HYDERABAD: Eight months after of the Central government launched the Agnipath armed forces recruitment scheme, the first batch of Agniveers reported at the Artillery Centre, Hyderabad on Sunday. After undergoing four phases of gruelling testing and filtering process, the first batch of Agniveers have started reporting to their respective training centres across the country.

It is estimated that approximately 2,500 Agniveers from all over the country will be reporting at the Hyderabad Artillery Centre on December 30 and a total of over 6,000 Agniveers will be trained by the end of 2023.

The Agniveers were welcomed into the fold of the Indian Army with a warm reception. The Centre has already made necessary preparations to cater to such a large number of trainees. It has beefed up its infrastructure and amended its training programme to meet the needs of the Agniveers and the Army as a whole, a statement issued by the defence officials said.

Under the Agnipath scheme, 46,000 youth between the ages of 17-and-a-half years and 21 years will be inducted into the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force for a period of four years.The Chennai Recruiting Office of the Indian Army recruited Agniveers from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana between November 15 to November 29 this year.