Photos: Hope and despair at Thane's Agnipath recruitment camp
After nearly three years of no new recruitments due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Indian Army has begun its drive to recruit candidates as ‘Agniveers’ for a period of 4 years under the new Agnipath scheme. In Maharashtra, the recruitment drive has so far seen an average of 3000 candidates coming in from different parts of the state every day. HT visited a recruitment camp in Thane’s Mumbra, which commenced on September 20 and will end on October 10, is enlisting candidates from eight different districts of Maharashtra.
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Candidates for recruitment under the Agnipath Scheme are seen resting at a school in Thane near Mumbai. The young men are billeted on the ground floor of a municipal school campus but there’s not enough space for all of them, so many of them have colonized the under-construction road outside where they sleep without any sheets. (Satish Bate / HT Photo)
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Vishal Mohan Chavan, 18, from Vitthalwadi village in Nashik is seen waiting with other candidates at Mumbra in Thane on September 29. In Maharashtra, the recruitment is being conducted at four locations – Thane, Nagpur, Kolhapur and Pune. The recruitment drive at Mumbra, which commenced on September 20 and will end on October 10, is enlisting candidates from eight different districts – Mumbai city and suburbs, Nashik, Raigad, Palghar, Thane, Dhule and Nandurbar.(Satish Bate / HT Photo)
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A scene from outside, at the army recruitment rally in Mumbra, Thane, on September 29. The recruitment drive has so far seen an average of 3000 candidates coming in from different parts of Maharashtra every day.(Satish Bate / HT Photo)
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Former defence employee Sharadchandra Handge seen accompanying his son Atharva at the army recruitment rally in Mumbra, Thane, on September 29. Indian Army’s recruitment drive under the new Agnipath Scheme recruits candidates as ‘Agniveer’ for a period of 4 years. Candidates from 17.5 years to 21 years are eligible to apply.(Satish Bate / HT Photo)
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