Women's day: Indian army to launch 2 sports companies for 'Nari Shakti'

In sync with the national vision of "women empowerment" & demonstration of "Nari Shakti", the Indian Army is raising two Army Girls Sports Companies (AGSC) in a phased manner.

The AGSCs will be located at two Army's Centre of Excellence nodes i.e. Army Marksmanship Unit, Mhow in Madhya Pradesh and Army Sports Institute, Pune.

The AGSC will be fully functional with effect from April 2024.

The AGSC will train young girls from all parts of the country in Shooting, Archery, Athletics, Boxing & Weightlifting.

To identify the young talent, provide them with formal education apart from other administrative requirements & train them to be champions in their respective sporting discipline.

These two locations have world-class training infrastructure, sports medicine centre, rehabilitation facility and related coaching facilities.

Indian Army has rich experience in scouting for young talent as demonstrated by the success of Boys Sports Companies.

This young talent will also benefit from the senior Army teams/athletes, who are also being trained at these locations.

Senior sportspersons will be a source of motivation for these young girls, who will be able to successfully emulate International athletes and imbibe the required skills on a very regular basis.

Aligned with India's sports policy to achieve more podium finishes at the Olympics.

The girls at AGSCs will be eligible for recruitment as direct entry Non-Commissioned Officers & Direct Entry Junior Commissioned Officers apart from enrolment as Agniveers.

Subedar Preeti Rajak, a champion trap shooter and Asian Games Silver medallist was accordingly identified as a talent and enrolled as a Havildar in the Corps of Military Police in December 2022. She was the first woman soldier to be promoted to Subedar in January 2024. She trains at the Army Marksmanship Unit at Mhow, where one of the two Army Girls Sports Company is being established.

Similarly, Jasmine Lamboria, Bronze medallist in the Commonwealth Games 2022, was also enrolled as a non-commissioned Officer in the Indian Army in Oct 2022.

These role models will inspire the incoming young talent to strive for sporting glory in their respective fields.