Agniveer recruitment rally began on an encouraging note with more than 1,600 aspirants appearing for physical fitness test on the first day of the drive on Thursday.
The rally is being held for the first time here after the introduction of the new recruitment scheme. Over 34,000 youth from across the State had registered their names for an entry into the army as Agniveers.
The number of appearing for the tests including 1.6 km run, pull-ups, long jump and zig zag balance, would go up to 3,000 from Friday and continued till September 26. About 50% of the aspirants would get filtered at the first level followed by another 2% during medical examination and the rest were expected to qualify for the written test to be held in Guntur later, according to official sources.
The aspirants thronged the Government General Hospital late on Wednesday for initial screening before taking part in the physical tests being conducted in batches of 300 each.
SPSR Nellore District Collector K.V.N. Chakaradhar Babu provided logistic support for the Army officers led by Guntur Range Army Recruitment Officer Colonel Shahzad Kohili at the sprawling ACSR stadium as the candidates came from across the State.
Superintendent of Police Ch Vijaya Rao oversaw the security arrangements for the rally by deploying over 150 personnel headed by Additional Superintendent of Police (Armed Reserve) Srinivasa Rao, Deputy Superintendent of Police(Traffic) Abdul Subhan and AR DSP Gandhi.
