Army: No plans to shift recruitment rallies from Punjab

New Delhi/Chandigarh, September 14

The Army authorities in the Capital have clarified that “there are no plans to shift recruitment rallies from Punjab to any other state”.

The clarification comes after Major General Sharad Bikram Singh, Zonal Recruitment Officer, Jalandhar, wrote to the Punjab Government that due to the “vacillating support” from the local administration, recruitment rallies might either be held in abeyance or shifted to neighbouring states. Official sources today said the Army recruitment of Agniveers under the Agnipath scheme was progressing as per schedule for 2022-23. Recruitment rallies in Ludhiana and Gurdaspur had been successfully conducted with the full support of civil administration, they said, adding that “the registration and footfall of candidates have been encouraging”.

The rallies in the state will be held at Patiala (September 17 to 30), Ferozepur (November 1 to 16) and Jalandhar (November 21 to December 10), will be conducted as scheduled in close coordination with the civil administration, the official sources said.

In Chandigarh, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today directed the officials concerned to ensure that the Army’s requirements were met. “All Deputy Commissioners are directed to provide complete support to the Army authorities for recruitment of Agniveers in Punjab. Any laxity shall be viewed seriously. Every effort will be made to recruit the maximum number of candidates in the Army from the state,” the Chief Minister said on his official Twitter handle.

Major General Sharad Bikram Singh in a letter to Punjab Chief Secretary VK Janjua and Principal Secretary, Employment Generation, Kumar Rahul had pointed out that the district administration was responsible for providing police assistance for security and crowd control, arranging medical support and providing basic amenities like rain shelters, water, mobile toilets and food for 3,000 to 4,000 candidates per day.

“Unless there is a clear-cut commitment to make these arrangements, we would be taking up the case with the Army Headquarters to hold in abeyance all future recruitment rallies and procedures in the state or alternatively conduct rallies in neighbouring states,” the letter said.

The recruitment for the armed forces commenced in July this year after a two-year gap due to the pandemic.

Punjab contributes a large component of manpower to the armed forces and the intake varies every year depending on the number of vacancies. — TNS