Agniveer recruitment process changed, candidates to sit for entrance test first

Earlier, the recruitment process for Agniveers followed a different order. The candidates had to first undergo the physical fitness test, which was followed by their medical tests. They had to qualify the CEE as the last step.

So far, 19,000 Agniveers have joined the Army and 21,000 will join the force from the first week of March. The new recruitment rules will apply to around 40,000 candidates willing to join the Army from the next recruitment cycle of 2023-24.

The number of candidates who attended the recruitment rallies earlier varied from 5,000 in smaller towns to 1.5 lakh in bigger cities.

Army officers told The Indian Express that the change in the recruitment process has been made considering the enormous administrative costs and logistical arrangements required to tackle the thousands of candidates who come to the recruitment rallies.

“The earlier process led to screening of a large number of candidates, which stressed administrative resources. A large number of security personnel had to be deployed to tackle law and order situation, and a substantial medical staff had to be committed for the rallies,” an officer said.

The officer added that the new recruitment process will substantially reduce the costs involved in organising the rallies and ease out the administrative and logistical burden.

A second officer said with a push in modernisation and planned induction of niche technologies in the Army in the future, it is prudent to have a pool of academically sound soldiers in the force.

“The new process which makes CEE qualification the first screening step will ensure better qualified candidates, who will then be examined for their physical fitness and will undergo medical tests,” the officer said.