New Delhi: General Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), today launched an innovative online learning platform named Eklavya, marking a significant step in the Indian Army’s transformation journey. The initiative aligns with the Indian Army’s vision for the “Decade of Transformation” and coincides with the theme for 2024, the “Year of Technology Absorption.”
Developed under the aegis of the Headquarters Army Training Command (HQ ATC), with the Army War College as the sponsor agency, Eklavya is a state-of-the-art software platform designed to revolutionize training and education within the Indian Army. The platform has been developed at zero cost, with technical support from the Bhaskaracharya National Institute of Space Applications and Geoinformatics (BISAG-N) in Gandhinagar, and the Directorate General of Information Systems.
Hosted on the Army Data Network, Eklavya features a scalable architecture, allowing the seamless integration of various training establishments across the Indian Army. With this platform, officers can access a vast array of courses, with the flexibility to register for multiple courses simultaneously. Currently, Eklavya hosts 96 courses provided by 17 Category ‘A’ Training Establishments of the Indian Army.
The Eklavya platform offers three key categories of courses to enhance the training and professional development of officers:
- Pre-Course Preparatory Capsules: These courses provide study material for offline physical courses across the Army. The aim is to move foundational content online, allowing physical courses to focus more on contemporary applications and emerging concepts in warfare. By shifting the basics online, the platform helps decongest courses, thereby creating time for the integration of new-age concepts.
- Appointment or Specific Assignment-Related Courses: Tailored for officers newly posted to specialist roles, these courses provide on-the-job training (OJT) in areas such as information warfare, financial planning, defence land management, and veteran affairs. These modules allow officers to gain domain-specific knowledge, improving efficiency and specialization as they step into their roles.
- Professional Development Suite: This category includes advanced courses on strategic leadership, operational art, organizational behaviour, finance, and emerging technologies, empowering officers with the knowledge and skills necessary for their professional growth.
One of the standout features of the Eklavya platform is the “Knowledge Highway”—a searchable repository of research papers, journals, and articles, all accessible under a single window. This will encourage continuous professional military education, ensuring that officers stay abreast of the latest developments in their respective fields.
The launch of Eklavya is part of the Indian Army’s broader strategy to promote specialization and continuous learning within its ranks. By providing flexible access to training, the platform prepares officers for specialist appointments, while simultaneously enriching and decongesting traditional physical training programs.
With its scalable architecture, Eklavya marks a transformative leap forward in the modernization of the Indian Army’s training and professional development infrastructure. It aligns with the army’s commitment to integrating technology into every facet of its operations and enhancing the capabilities of its officers in an ever-evolving security landscape.
