Agnipath: Navy's recruitment calendar to start on June 22, online registration from July 1

The Indian Navy has preponed the recruitment calendar for Agnipath scheme from July 25 to July 22. The online registration for the Agniveers will commence from July 1, informed Vice Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, COP, Indian Navy. The notification for the recruitment of the Agniveers to the Indian Navy is scheduled to be released on June 21. The Army has already released the Agniveer notification on June 20, while the same for Air Force will be issued on July 24. 

Vice Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi said, "Our recruitment calendar was decided for June 25, but it will start tomorrow- June 22. Online registration to start from July 1 onwards."

Indian Navy to recruit women sailors under Agniveer scheme

In a first in defence recruitment in India, the Indian Navy announced women sailors will be hired under the Agniveer scheme. Notably, while women officers have been hired in the Navy, Army and Air Force, this will be the first time they will be inducted as per the Personnel Below Officers’ Rank (PBOR). 

Vice Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi officially announced the decision at the Tri-services press conference on June 19, "Indian Navy has 30 women officers at present sailing on different Indian Navy ships. We have decided that under the Agnipath scheme, we will recruit women also. They will be deployed on warships also." However, the exact number of recruits is still being discussed, Vice Admiral Dinesh Tripathi noted. 

'No major change in the battle readiness of the soldiers after Agniveer induction'

As the controversy around the Agniveer scheme continued, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar cleared the air around the allegations that the Agniveer scheme will compromise the quality of the soldiers. Talking to Republic Media Network Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, Admiral R Hari Kumar said, "So what is happening in the case of Agniveers is that we are reducing the training time marginally. Say in the case of the Navy, we are reducing it from 22 weeks to 18 weeks, which includes 16 weeks of basic training and 2 weeks of onboard training. The professional training time remains almost the same."

Currently, the recruit undergoes training for 22 weeks and subsequently, he is imparted with 4 months of professional training and then he is inducted into the Army, Navy or Air force. His next course happens only after 5-6 years.