The selected contestants have varied backgrounds including an engineer, sports management professional, doctor, martial arts trainer, fitness enthusiast and a budding journalist. The India’s Citizen Squad has representation across the country including Delhi, Uttarakhand, Mumbai, Kashmir, Haryana, Karnataka, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. They will undergo training at a specially created India’s Citizen Squad camp to be headed by Col. Manish Sarin, a veteran from the Gorkha Rifles, and along with him will be 5 ex-special forces soldiers from the MARCOS, NSG and the Para SF.
India’s Citizen Squad has attracted marquee advertisers including LIC, Indian Oil Corporation India and Bajaj Dominar 400 as Co-Powered by Sponsors.
“India’s Citizen Squad is much more than a TV show – it is an attempt to inspire citizens to start a movement wherein each one of us comes forward and respond in case of an emergency even before the official help comes in. The Indian Citizen Squad, after getting intensive training, will be motivated and geared to be the exemplary citizen and set an example for others to emulate,” said, Zulfia Waris, V.P Premium & Digital networks, Discovery Communications India.
Col. Manish Sarin, Camp Commander of India’s Citizen Squad, said, “The concept of India's Citizen Squad intrigued me. Imagine a bunch of youngsters, willing to go through the toughest of training, just so that they can contribute better as citizens. What would drive them to push themselves so hard, and whether they would really be able to walk the talk. To me, it is a test of faith in India's youth.”
India’s Citizen Squad will premiere on Discovery Channel, Discovery HD World and on Veer by Discovery, India’s first dedicated military channel available on YouTube.
India’s Citizen Squad
Profile of contestants -
- Nilay Sharma (Bengaluru): Nilay, 22 years, currently employed in a sports management company, dreams of becoming an officer in the Indian armed forces. For him winning is important but he will never cross that thin line - do anything unfair or unethical. Nilay is into fitness and likes Football and Badminton.
- Muntazir Ahmed (Srinagar): Muntazir, 24 years, who currently works as a martial art trainer is passionate about running marathons. He wants people from different cast and creed to stay together in an harmonious manner and emphathise with each other better to build a strong country. He believes that youth of India can lead the way to make this change. Muntazir is not afraid to experiment - he has always learnt something new from his failures.
- Ashish Tamang (Darjeeling): 26-year-old Ashish is a civil engineer in the state electricity board. Ashish is a defense aspirant having applied for SSB multiple times. He wants to motivate youth to bring change in the society and encourage them to join armed forces and stay fit.
- Sonu Kumar (Muzaffarnagar) – Sonu, 25 years, a trained and enthusiastic mountaineer, has had the privilege of being part of the Siachen treck organised by the Indian army. He learnt how soldiers of Indian army stay in such extreme weather conditions on such high peaks. He wants Indian youth to steer clear of drugs, and be fit.
- Sunil Singh (Mumbai) – 26-year-old Sunil has faced tough times in his childhood having lived 8 years at an orphanage. He started learning martial arts at a young age and is now a full-time martial arts instructor. He dreams to start his own Martial Arts school in which he will teach all the underprivileged kids for free.
- Rohit Singh Bhandari (Haldwani) – 21-year-old college going student Rohit, originally from Uttarakhand, is an adventurous person who likes to take on challenges. A defense aspirant, Rohit is a strong advocate of stricter laws against atrocities committed on women. He believes that every child has the right to study and dreams of an India where nobody sleeps hungry.
- Tanushree Chakrabarti (Delhi) – Tanushree, 24 years, comes from a defense background as her father and grandfather served the armed forces. A creative person, with interests in art, culture and weight lifting, Tanushree is a strong proponent of equality irrespective of the financial status of the individual.
- Himanshu Bishnoi (Hisar) - 24-year-old Himanshu is currently working as a fitness instructor in Delhi. He loves to play cricket and sings when he is alone - helps him calm down. He believes that Indians should get into more physical activities and improve their eating habits to stay healthy and fit.
- Pallavi Vengurlekar (Delhi) – 38-year-old Pallavi is the oldest participant in the fray. A dentist by profession, she runs 2 successful clinics in Delhi wherein she gives free treatment to the poor. Mother of two children, Pallavi is an outgoing and a self-motivated woman who loves to explore new things in her life. A black belt in Taekwondo, she wants every woman in India to learn self-defense. She wants to be a role model for all working mothers and wants her daughters to look up to her and become as strong and independent as she is today. Also wants to make sure no one wastes food so that most people don’t ever go hungry.
- Sunny Sehrawat (Delhi) – Sunny, 20 years, is a fitness enthusiast and also has interest in dancing. Believes in fit India and that’s why wants to make India drug free and wants to raise the fitness level of everyone because it is getting worse day by day. He wants to be in on this show to go through the strict training our Jawans go through and earn respect through this platform.
- Rishab Singh (Delhi) – Rishab, 21 years, is currently studying law. He feeds poor people and stray dogs and wants to help them as much as they can. He wants to promote women safety and has also helped a girl who was being eve teased by 3 guys. He fought the trio and got them arrested. Rishab wants to be on in this show to raise his voice and bring about a change.
- Manav Singh Dhillon (Delhi): A 20-year-old student of journalism who would like to empower and inspire Indians to be more aware of the issues that concern their daily life, which are more important to the humankind and divert their attention from following political agenda.
