'Fall in Number of Army Recruits From State'

Indian Military Veterans

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  Soldiers with the Amar Jyothi Shradhanjali Kalash to mark 16th year the Kargil victory, leaving Raj Bhavan on Wednesday | NAGESH POLALI | EPS

BENGALURU: The number of recruits from the state for the post of junior commissioned officers (JCO) in the Indian Army has been declining over the years.

Brigadier Victor Rajamani, deputy director general (recruiting), Karnataka and Goa Directorate, told reporters here on Wednesday that this was mainly due to the myriad job opportunities available in the state.

“However, the response from north Karnataka has been phenomenal, at around 50 per cent of the recruits from the state in a year, compared to south of the state,” he said. IT companies in the city lure away a lot of youth, and efforts are being made to create awareness about joining the Army, he said.

Brig. Rajamani, who was here to announce the selection of recruits (JCOs and other ranks), said the application process is now completely online. Henceforth, aspirants will have to register themselves on a website, after which they will be allowed to attend the rally.

Rajamani said the recruitment process has gone online to meet objectives of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India initiative.

“Also, during rallies, hordes of aspirants descend on the location, which exerts a huge pressure on us and the local administration. Hence, making the registration process online will help in the long run,” he said.

Brig. Rajamani said around 1,500-2,000 aspirants are selected each year from the state. “The number of vacancies per year is determined by the headquarters in New Delhi. The number of vacancies per state varies from time to time, which is why it is difficult to put a finger on the exact number of people from the state who are recruited,” he said.

“Pan-India, around 60,000 aspirants get in every year. The headquarters determines the recruitable male population (RMP), which currently stands at 4.97 per cent in the state.”

After March 31, 2016, online registration will be outsourced to different agencies. These agencies will register the applicants and then pass on the details to the Army Recruitment Offices (ARO), he said.

Who can be selected?

Under the ‘JCO and other ranks’ category, aspirants can be selected as soldiers - general duty, soldiers - technical and soldiers - clerks (technical store-keepers). A pass in 12th grade is mandatory.

Recruitment rallies in the state

Oct -3 - Haveri. Districts covered - Uttara Kannada, Shivamogga, Udupi, Chikkamagaluru, Dakshina Kannada, Davangere, Vijayapura, Dharwad, Haveri, Gadag and Bagalkot. Registration from Aug 6 to Sept 22

Jan 6-16, 2016 - Bidar (Belagavi, Raichur, Bidar, Koppal, Kalaburagi, Yadgir). Registration from Nov 6 to Dec 23

Feb 1-4 - Ballari. (Bengaluru (Urban and Rural), Kolar, Mandya, Tumakuru, Mysuru, Chamarajnagar, Ramanagaram, Chikballapur, Kodagu, Chitradurga, Hassan and Ballari. Registration from Dec 1 to Jan 18, 2017