Photos: Hope and despair at Thane's Agnipath recruitment camp
Published on Oct 02, 2022 05:28 PM IST
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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Members of Ummeed Foundation and Gurudwara Nanak Darbar Trust serve food to Agniveer aspirants in Mumbra, Thane, on September 29. The physical test usually begins after midnight and can go on until 5am. In the physical test, candidates have to run for 1600 meters (1.6 kilometres) in 5 minutes and 30 seconds or 5 minutes and 45 seconds, depending on their category, HT reported.(Satish Bate / HT Photo)
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Candidates seen working on recruitment forms in the dark, outside a school in Thane, on September 29. Those who make it through the physical test have to undergo a medical examination followed by a written exam.(Satish Bate / HT Photo)
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Candidates rest outside a school in Thane, on September 29. There is bonhomie no doubt, but also an air of exhaustion that pervades the camp. The travel to Mumbra is hectic, and most candidates were either catching a nap or giving one another foot massage before the all-important physical exam began, HT reported.(Satish Bate / HT Photo)
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Aidtya Bhosale, 19, from Niphad Pimplas village in Nashik district at the Mumbra camp in Thane, on September 29. A large number of candidates belong to the same or neighbouring villages in Nashik and Dhule districts – the two districts that were on the schedule on the day of HT’s visit to the Mumbra camp.(Satish Bate / HT Photo)
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Agniveer aspirants seen buying apples outside the Mumbra camp in Thane, on September 29. A candidate who did not wish to be identified told HT that he would want to sell milk after he buys two cows with the remuneration that he will receive after four years,(Satish Bate / HT Photo)
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An aspirant seen with an apple while waiting outside the Mumbra camp in Thane, on September 29. Certain candidates expressed their disappointment about the fact that the scheme envisages a short-term tenure, but they did not want to be quoted. All their hopes, they say would be pinned on the police and the CRPF for a permanent job after the completion of four years.(Satish Bate / HT Photo)
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Gorakh Bhosale, 19, from Lasal village in Nashik district shows his application form outside the Mumbra camp in Thane, on September 29. After completion of the four- year- tenure, 25% of the Agniveers will be absorbed as regular cadre of the Indian armed forces based on the organizational requirement.(Satish Bate / HT Photo)
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Rohit Mohato, 18, from Nasik Road poses for a photograph at the Mumbra camp in Thane, on September 29. The 75 per cent of Agniveers not selected in the regular cadre, will get a corpus of Rs. 11.71 lakhs each which will be tax exempt.(Satish Bate / HT Photo)
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