Around 2.5 lakh women have registered for just 100 vacancies in the Army’s Corps of Military Police (CMP) under the newly launched Agnipath scheme for recruitment to the forces, as per official data available with the Army.
At present, CMP is the only arm that recruits women into the Army below the rank of officers. Women military police personnel will be employed in counterinsurgency, ceremonial, and police duties including crowd control and investigations.
Officials familiar with the matter said the responses to overall recruitments under the Agnipath scheme have been encouraging so far and not any different from previous enlistment exercises, adding that the same standards have been maintained as in the past.
“The response for the Agniveer women recruitment has been overwhelming. Around 2.5 lakh women candidates have registered against the 100 vacancies. 11 rallies have been planned for them which will begin October onwards,” a top official told News18.
The first batch of 100 women underwent training at the Corps of Military Police Centre and School in Bengaluru in 2020 and they were posted at different Army units across the country—including in operational areas—in mid-2021.
However, the recruitment process for the second batch of women was stalled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 100 women will now be shortlisted from the 2.5 lakh applicants and recruited into military police under the Agnipath scheme. Their training is scheduled to take place in March next year.
The proposal to induct women into the military police was first floated in December 2017 and got government approval in January 2019. The Army plans to induct women recruits every year, to ensure a total strength of 1,700 women recruits, or 20 per cent of women in the military police in around 17 years.
So far, the Navy and the Indian Air Force (IAF) do not have women in ranks below officers. However, the Navy in June this year announced that it will recruit women sailors in all branches under the Agnipath scheme. Around 9.55 lakh registered for recruitments to the Navy under the scheme, of which around 82,000 were women.
As per the latest official data, a total of 35 lakh candidates have applied for the 40,000 vacancies in the Army.
The Army has planned 96 rallies by the end of this year to recruit soldiers into the force under the Agnipath scheme.
Out of the 96 rallies, 30 have already been completed and 12 are currently in progress. The remaining rallies are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2022. Training for the initial batches of soldiers is scheduled to begin by January 2023.
Additional marks to candidates qualified from ITIs
The Army plans to have recruitments twice a year so that there is optimisation of training and infrastructure.
The official quoted above said that candidates qualified in technical skills from industrial training institutes (ITIs) will be given bonus marks in the Common Entrance Examination (CEE) as an incentive for recruitment under the Agnipath scheme.
As per a recruitment rally notification, the bonus marks will be 30 for a one-year ITI course, 40 for a two-year course, and 50 for a diploma holder. The ITI-qualified individuals will be enrolled as Soldier (Technical).
“However, with ITIs training for private education and not designed for the military, we are coordinating with the ministries of skill development and entrepreneurship and education to put forth our requirements to them. This will help align the soldiers’ requirements to the ITI syllabus,” the official said.
Decision on manpower optimisation to be based on DMA study
Assuring transparency in the recruitment process all across, the official quoted above said that strict vigil is observed to cancel out any probable instance of fraud.
“Candidates at the recruitment rallies are sensitised to avoid touts or agents by the recruiting offices. The rallies are being held smoothly with support from the civil administration,” the official said.
Asked about the vacuum created in the Army due to stalling of recruitments in the last two years and if this will set the plans for rightsizing the force into motion, the official admitted there are shortages of personnel, but added any immediate requirement will be met.
“As far as manpower optimisation is concerned, a study under the DMA (Department of Military Affairs) is underway on the existing structures and decisions will be taken based on that,” the official said.
Read all the Latest News India and Breaking News here
Comments
0 comment