The Army, with the help of the Meghalaya government, has been able to find a new formula to fight insurgents in the trouble torn Garo hills.
The Meghalaya government and the Army has been able to stop unemployed youths from remote areas of the region join militant groups by recruiting them to serve the nation as troopers of the Indian Army.
At least 100 youths from Meghalaya have completed their recruitment examination for the Indian Army, 62 of them are from Garo hills where security forces and militants are involved in a cat and rat chase.
“It is with a sense of pride and satisfaction that we wish to inform that in the recruitment rally conducted by the Army, a total of 100 youths from Meghalaya have been finally selected after a gruelling physical, medical and written examination” stated a government press release.
It was on a special request of Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma that a special Indian Amry recruitment drive was organised in Tura, the main town of Garo hills on April14-18. Then written examinations were held in June.
“Garo hills has been badly hit by insurgency. In remote areas youths have been brain washed by militants to joint them, while security forces have got success against the militants, the state government with the help of the Army decided to plan how to youths from the insurgency hit areas be brought to serve in the Army.
This way both the Army and the Meghalaya government has become more popular and the locals would help more in counter insurgency operations” said Pravin Bakshi, the deputy commissioner of West Garo Hills.
Earlier Army recruitment rallies were held only in Shillong. According to Army sources, less then 5,000 youths from across the state had participated in the recruitment drive.
About 33 per cent of the youths who appeared for written text in the month of June have cleared the exam. The national averages for these kinds of rallies are 10-22 per cent, Army sources added.