News Brief
Women Sailors. (Representative Image)
In a first, the Indian Navy is set to start deploying over 250 women Agniveer sailors on board its ships from next month.
The first two Agniveer batches included more than 700 women, and this number is expected to exceed over 1,000 once the third batch passes out in march, The Print reported citing defence sources.
The first batch, comprising 273 women Agniveers, will head out to their respective postings based on their profession within the Navy once they complete their shore-based attachment.
“Some of these women will then get deployed on board ships as junior-most sailors by the end of February or beginning of March this year,” a defence sources was quoted as saying in The Print report.
While submarine deployment is not in the current plan, their roles on ships will encompass a range of responsibilities in different areas including gunnery, anti-submarine warfare, communications, operations, electrical and engineering branches, systems controls, and logistics.
After this, they are sent to professional training establishments and are required to complete the shore-based attachment.
Shore-based attachments are a type of hands-on training that the sailors undergo before being assigned postings.
Following this shore-based attachment, the first batch of 273 women Agniveers is anticipated to be posted based on their professional specialisation within the Navy.
By the end of February or early March, some of these women sailors are expected to assume duties as junior-most sailors on board ships.
Also, the ones who are not deployed on board ships will carry out different shore-based duties.