Navy Vice Admiral Meets First Batch Agniveers, Including Women

The Indian Navy is closely monitoring the training of its first batch of Agniveers, including women, at the INS Chilka training establishment in Odisha, with Vice Admiral Dinesh Tripathi visiting the facility on Tuesday to assess how their training is progressing, according to officials familiar with the matter.

The navy's first batch of Agniveers includes 341 women among the 3,000 trainees.

According to a navy spokesperson, Vice Admiral Tripathi interacted with the trainees and was briefed on the readiness for the training of the first batch of Agniveers who reported to INS Chilka at the end of November.

Vice Admiral Tripathi was also briefed on initiatives undertaken for the induction of female Agniveers. According to the spokesperson, he inspired them to pursue their careers by instilling in them the core values of the navy: duty, honour and courage. The trainees were chosen using the Agnipath model for short-term soldier induction into the three services. Agniveers are those recruited under the new model.

INS Chilka, the sprawling lakeside campus, previously received a slew of facilities to make life easier for women on the verge of a naval career. The navy took several measures to make the training establishment women-friendly, including earmarking two new accommodation blocks exclusively for them, installing sanitary pad vending and disposal machines, establishing more toilets for women trainees and a separate dining area and hiring women staff.

Women were first admitted to the navy as officers three decades ago, but this is the first time they are being recruited as sailors.

Other changes at INS Chilka include the installation of security cameras and the hiring women as matrons, swimming instructors and sweepers. The training facility has 50 officers in various roles including 13 female officers.

INS Chilka dispatched teams to the Corps of Military Police, Border Security Force, and Central Industrial Security Force training facilities (all of which train women). The information gathered was distilled before finalising the training regimen and other changes.

On 14 June, the central government announced the Agnipath scheme, which will replace the legacy recruitment system in order to reduce the age profile of the armed forces, ensure a fitter military, and create a technically skilled warfighting force capable of meeting future challenges. The scheme aims to recruit soldiers for only four years, with a provision for 25 per cent of them to be retained in the regular cadre for 15 years after another round of screening.