India's first Agniveers think big, look to become officers

Many of the trainees, aged between 17-and-a-half and 21 and India’s first Agniveers, have set their sights on becoming officers in the armed forces, and are focused on working their way up to more ambitious goals.

- Rahul Singh

Becoming Agniveers is not an end in itself for several bright young men and women who are set to pass out from the Indian Navy’s sprawling lakeside training facility, INS Chilka, in two days.

They are aiming higher.

Shweta Singh Antal, 21, a non-medical student, scored 96% in the Class 12 Board exams and completed BA (hons) in sociology from Delhi’s Miranda House before she was selected under the pioneering Agnipath scheme for short-term recruitment of personnel below officer rank (PBOR) in the three services, and landed up at INS Chilka for basic naval training late last year.

She is among the 2,600 Agniveers including 273 women who will pass out from INS Chilka on March 28, after four gruelling months of training. Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar will attend the passing-out parade as the chief guest and the reviewing officer. The Agniveers will be attached to frontline warships for two weeks for their sea training before they undergo specialised training for four more months at different naval establishments based on the streams they have been assigned to.

“The Agnipath scheme is a stepping stone for me to become an officer in the navy or any of the other two services. I am not settling for anything less. The knowledge and skills that I have acquired during training, and will gain in the naval service that follows will put me in an advantageous position to achieve my goal,” said Shweta.