Indian Army amends recruitment procedure for Agniveers

The Indian Army on Saturday announced a change in the recruitment process for Agniveers with introduction of an online Common Entrance Exam for all candidates at nominated centres, followed by physical fitness and medical test for qualified candidates, news agency ANI reported.

The first online Common Entrance Exam is scheduled in April 2023 at approximately 200 locations across India, for which all preparations have been finalised. Online applications for registration will be open from mid-February for a period of one month, Army officials said.

“The changed methodology will ensure an increased focus on the cognitive aspect during selection. It will have wider outreach across the country and also reduce the large crowds seen during recruitment rallies to make them more manageable and easier to conduct,” the Army officials added.

Notably, earlier, the recruitment process for Agniveers followed a different order. The candidates had to undergo the physical fitness test first, that was followed by their medical tests. They had to qualify the Common Entrance Exam as the last step.

According to an army officer, the new process which makes the entrance test qualification the first screening step will ensure better qualified candidates, who will then be examined on the basis of their physical fitness and will undergo medical tests.

It is to be noted that so far, a total of 19,000 Agniveers have joined the Army and 21,000 will join the force from the first week of March. The new recruitment process will apply to around 40,000 candidates willing to join the Indian Army from the next recruitment cycle of 2023-24. The number of candidates who attended the recruitment rallies earlier ranged from 5,000 in smaller towns to 1.5 lakh in bigger cities.