Chandigarh, July 7
As the Army moves ahead with the raising of a new strike corps to counter China, it is apparently facing difficulties in getting the right material for the rank and file from Punjab.

This, sources said, has put a question mark over new infantry raisings from the state. To deal with the situation, the Sikh Regimental Centre has proposed to depute two-man teams in various districts to conduct training capsules to motivate, train and orient youngsters to join the Army. Intake into the armed forces from Punjab, both for officers and troops, had seen a fall over the decades.

The Sikh Regiment, which draws its troops from Punjab as well as the Sikh community in Jammu and Kashmir, has projected about 7,000 vacancies recently. This includes making up for annual wastages and new raisings.

Brig Manjit Singh (retd), Director Defence Services Welfare, Punjab, said each team would comprise an instructor from the Army Education Corps and a physical training instructor, who would conduct six-week recurring training programmes. The teams would be attached with Sikh battalions.

The problem of drug abuse in the state, declining physical standards, dismissal state of education and the craze among the Punjabi youth for going abroad are some of the reasons cited for the problems being faced in recruitment. Many candidates are unable to clear physical tests or meet the educational standards.

"It is not that youngsters are not coming up to join. There are more then 50 candidates for a single, but the problem is getting that one person," Brig IS Gakhal, former Commandant of the Sikh Regimental Centre said. There are instances when the centre has been taking in troops over and above the state's recruitment quota because vacancies undersubscribed by some states are passed on to other states, he added.

Sources said approximately 3,000 persons from Punjab join the armed forces annually, though this number varies each year depending upon vacancies. In light of the new raisings, the intake would be much high in the next two-three years. Besides the Sikh Regiment, the Sikh Light Infantry, Punjab Regiment as well as several armoured and artillery regiments draw their recruits from Punjab.

A corps comprises about 25 infantry battalions in addition to other units from other arms like armoured corps, artillery, engineers as well as support services and logistic elements. The number of new raisings being allocated to various regiments is different.

It is not just the rank and file, but also the officer cadre where the decline in intake from Punjab is significant. In the batch of officers that passed out from the Indian Military Academy last month, Punjab ranked eighth.