On March 28, 2023, the Passing Out Parade (POP) of the first batch of Indian Navy Agniveers will take place on INS Chilka.
Unlike the other Passing Out Parades, the ceremony will be held post sunset, a first of its kind in the Indian Armed Forces. This historic POP will mark the culmination of 16 weeks of training for the first of Agniveers batch.
The eminent chief guests of the ceremony are Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Hari Kumar, and Flag Officer (Commander in Chief) of the Southern Naval Command, Vice Admiral MA Hampholi.
Two legendary ex-servicemen of the 1971 Indo Pakistan War namely, Chiman Singh (Awardee of the Maha Veer Chakra) and Jagannath Mane (awardee of Padma Shri) will also grace the occasion.
Additionally, the civilian guests include Harjinder Singh Cheema (responsible for establishment of 500 crore industry-Cheema Boilers Limited) along with Darshan Singh Ahluwalia, Manoj Kumar Sharma, Hari Shankar Yadav (holder of the Guinness Book of World Records for 24hr push-ups).
Eminent Sports personalities such as PT Usha, (Queen of Indian Track and Field) along with MIthali Raj (former Captain of the Indian Women cricket team) will be present.
Other guests include Avtar Singh (International Hockey Player and an inspiration coach of the Indian Women’s Junior Team), and Shankar Singh Sisodia (founder of the Shri Prem Singh Badgujar Charitable Trust) will be present on the Passing Out Parade (POP) ceremony.
The parade marks the successful completion of training of 2,600 Agniveers, including 273 women cadets. The successful trainees would be deployed on the frontline Warships for their sea training.
The training of these Navy Agniveers commenced in November 2022.
This first batch of Agniveers also includes those men and women Agniveers who were a part of Indian Navy Republic Day contingent, at the Kartavya Path on January 26 2023. The ‘Passing Out Parade’ is a momentous occasion for the trainees and a proud moment for their families.
This is the first ever passing out of the Agniveers from any training institution of the country post the completion of ab-initio training-a significant landmark towards the new beginning of for the Armed Forces and the Nation.
In the consonance of the Government of India initiative of a pan India merit based Agnipath recruitment process, Indian navy oriented the selection, training and deployment of methodology to lay the foundation of a contemporary, dynamic, younger and technically equipped future ready soldiers.
This year onwards, acknowledging the contributions of the First Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, towards the transformational Agnipath Scheme, the Indian Navy has instituted the rolling trophy for Women Agniveer Trainee Standing First in Overall Order and Merit.
The daughters of late CDS General Bipin Rawat will be presenting the trophy to the deserving woman Agniveer.
The INS Chilka is the premier training establishment of the Indian Navy for sailors ab-initio training upon induction. It was commissioned in 1980, the institute undertakes various facets of service training like Physical Training, Swimming, Small Arms, Cyber Security, Naval Orientation and National Security etc. The curriculum has been designed to develop the mental and physical faculties essential for a career at sea.
The conduct of the maiden night POP in the presence of eminent naval sailors, sports women of international repute and senior naval officials would be a landmark moment for the first batch of Agniveers.
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