Indian Army to have specialised girls sports company next month

New Delhi, March 7

In sync with the national vision of women empowerment and demonstration of “Nari Shakti”, the Indian Army is raising two Army Girls Sports Company (AGSC) within its two Centre of Excellence (COE) nodes at Army Marksmanship Unit, Mhow, and Army Sports Institute, Pune.

The AGSC will be fully functional with effect from April 2024, official sources said. These units will identify the young talent, provide them with formal education apart from other administrative requirements and train them to be champions in their respective sporting discipline. Indian Army has had Boys Sports Companies for long.

The AGSC will train young girls from all parts of the country in shooting, archery, athletics, boxing and weightlifting. The two locations have been selected for the Army Girls Sports Companies, as they have world-class training infrastructure, sports medicine centre, rehabilitation facility and related coaching facilities.

The girls at AGSCs will be groomed not only to be outstanding sportspersons but will also be eligible for recruitment as Direct Entry Non Commissioned Officers and Direct Entry Junior Commissioned Officers, apart from enrolment as Agniveers.

Already, even before the AGSC has been made operational, Subedar Preeti Rajak, a champion trap shooter and Asian Games silver medallist, was enrolled as a Havildar in Corps of Military Police in December 2022. She was the first woman soldier to be promoted to Subedar in January 2024.