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Draft:Apprentice Training School EME, Bhopal

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Apprentice Training School EME, Bhopal


The Apprentice Training School EME, Bhopal (ATS)[1] was one of Indian Army's institutions that trained efficient craftsmen to become its technical backbone in the Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (EME) (later renamed as the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers) that maintains all of the available war machinery. The school was established in 1966 and eventually closed down in 1981.

History 

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India's strategic analysis and reviews of post Indo-China War of 1962 revealed the deficiencies in advanced weaponry and the technical expertise to maintain it. With this, the then Government of India decided to equip the Army well and make it technically self-sufficient with competent and capable technicians and craftsmen. To meet the requirement of advanced craftsmanship, modelling on the British Army Apprentice College, the ATS was established in 1966 as a part of its combat engineering branch of EME. The ATS started training young boys as Apprentices in the year 1968. The training activities in ATS commenced near the 3 EME Training Centre in Bhopal,[2] Madhya Pradesh with the aim of providing to the Indian Army, efficient and vibrant craftsmen who will become its technical back bone to support all available war machinery. On successful completion of three years of training similar to diploma courses in engineering, all the trainees were to pass out with the rank of Warrant Officers (WO). But ostensibly due to administrative difficulties of inducting youngsters in higher ranks among older military personnel, the original plan of granting the rank of WO to them was dropped and Apprentices passed out as Craftsman (Cfn), the entry level rank in EME.

The technical and military trainings of the 1st course of Apprentices started in May 1968 at ATS in Sultania Infantry Lines[3] of Bhopal. Out of about 300 candidates who qualified in the written entrance examination and reported for personal interview, only about 100 were finally selected by a Board of Officers. About 3000 Apprentices had since passed out of ATS between 1968 and 1981; in the almost 12 years of its existence. The technical training specialisations that were allotted to the Apprentices were Telecommunication (TCM), Instruments (IM), Electrical, Automobile (VM), Armament (Gun Ftr), Small Arms (Armr) and Mechanical (Tnr). The intake periodicity of the batches (courses) of the trainees was six-monthly. The last course to pass out was 23rd which had 125 Apprentices. Towards the end, in January 1979, the main body of ATS was moved from its original location of Sultania Infantry Lines to 3 EME Centre in Bairagarh, Bhopal, where regular EME's technical craftsmen were being trained. Apprentices of the 20th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd courses were shifted to this new location. Maybe to speed up the process of the closure of ATS, all Apprentices of 22nd and 23rd courses were allotted TCM specialisation and were moved to The Military College of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering (MCEME) in Secunderabad, currently in Telangana, for the remaining part of the training. The 21st course of ATS completed its training in 3 EME Centre itself on 31 May 1981. With that the curtains were drawn on ATS and it was finally closed down in the year 1981. The probable reason for winding up Apprentice Training School EME, Bhopal was the fallout of the mismatch between the aspirations of better qualified, selected and trained youngsters who expected to enter the Army in a matching higher position and what the Army offered them. This mismatch existed despite almost similar Artificer Apprentices entry in Indian Navy[4] has been offering higher grades to the trainees. The results were the desperation among the alumni of ATS to strive for something better which a large number of them did achieve by becoming Commissioned Officers in the Indian Army and reaching superior positions as civilians. Brigadier Rumel Dahiya,[5] the Sword of Honour winner of Indian Military Academy, Dehradun in 1976, is one such Apprentice from the 1st Course. About 400 Ex-Apprentices became Commissioned Officers in the Indian Army itself. Among them, there had been one Major General (Major General VPS Bhakuni, VSM[6]) and about a dozen Brigadiers.

Campus

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Apprentice Training School EME, Bhopal existed on the two hills and adjoining the plains of Sultania Infantry Lines. It had a large academic building and even larger technical training area. The military training area comprised of many acres of land.

Selection and training

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A group photograph of young apprentices in their uniform.

Apprentices of ATS were selected after their matriculation (10th grade) through all-India written examinations, medical fitness checks, aptitude tests and personal interviews by Boards of Officers. The training was of three years, with the apprentices with Telecommunication specialisation being sent, after one and a half years, to MCEME, Secunderabad and the Apprentices of Instrument and Armament specialisations being sent to EME School, Baroda[7] (Gujarat) after two years for higher training.

Curriculum

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The ATS curriculum included both technical and military trainings. After a one year general technical training on a number of ancillary trades and completing the basic military training, the Apprentices were allocated specialisations for the training of the next two years. The Institution of Engineers (India)[8] has recognised the 3 year Apprenticeship course of ATS equivalent to Diploma in Engineering,[9] for their further studies.

Alumni

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Subedar Vijayan Paleri, SM (Posthumous), 10th Course

Many of the alumni of ATS have achieved higher career progressions both in the Army and as civilians. The following is the list of some of the Apprentices who made to higher ranks as commissioned officers in the Army:

  1. Brigadier Rumel Dahiya - 1st Course (the 1976 winner of the coveted Sword of Honour of Indian Military Academy
  2. Brigadier Narayanan - 1st Course
  3. Brigadier NA Subramanian, YSM - 1st Course
  4. Brigadier Valappil  George - 10th Course
  5. Brigadier KS Chauhan - 13th Course
  6. Brigadier Deo Raj Singh, SM - 15th Course
  7. Brigadier RG Goswamy - 16th Course
  8. Brigadier Nishakant Rawat - 18th Course
  9. Brigadier MD Chacko - 19th Course
  10. Major General VPS Bhakuni, VSM - 20th Course
  11. Brigadier RS Vashisht - 23rd  Course

Over a dozen of the Apprentices have been decorated with military awards like Shaurya Chakra (SC) Yudh Seva Medal (YSM), Vishist Seva Medal (VSM) and Sena Medal (SM). This includes Subedar Vijayan Paleri, SM of 10th course who was killed in action in a terrorist attack in Srinagar on 14 August 1994.

References

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  1. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzdBoBLkPrA
  2. ^ https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/celebrating-82-years-raising-day-of-the-3-eme-centre-in-bhopal/articleshow/114258409.cms
  3. ^ https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/sultania-infantry-lines-to-be-named-after-air-warrior-varun/articleshow/95265959.cms
  4. ^ https://www.joinindiannavy.gov.in/en/faq/faq/index/sailor
  5. ^ https://idsa.in/profile/rdahiya
  6. ^ https://ssbsureshot.com/about-us#:~:text=Maj%20Gen%20VPS%20Bhakuni%2C%20VSM%20(R)&text=Commanded%20Garud%20Mountain%20Division.,and%20Masters%20in%20Management%20Studies.
  7. ^ https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vadodara/eme-school-celebrates-diamond-jubilee/articleshow/99546044.cms
  8. ^ https://www.ieindia.org/webui/iei-home.aspx
  9. ^ https://amiestudycircle.com/download/amie-eligibility.pdf
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