'Army recruitment rally receives overwhelming response'

Speaking to the mediapersons here, he opined that there is a need to educate youths especially from rural areas regarding the various avenues offered by the Indian Army.

“The response we received this time has shown an upward trend. As many as 1,200 candidates were screened for various tests deciding the eligibility criterion. Education supplements of the newspapers rarely provide details on the enrollment in the armed forces,” he said.

There are three recruiting offices in Karnataka— Bangalore, Mangalore and Belgaum. Bangalore and Mangalore have 9 districts each under their jurisdiction, whereas Belgaum has 11 districts of North Karnataka under its belt. “We have been geographically able to cover all parts of the State. The current recruitment procedure began in April, 2008 and ends in March 2010. This is the second recruiting rally and is the last phase of the cycle 2009-10. The details of the enrollment process was made known to the aspirants 45 days in advance through district administration,” he added.

Stating that the selection process is fair and transparent, Brigadier Kushalappa said only performance and merits decides the enrollment. Lack of knowledge has made the candidates to fall prey into the fake assurances offered by the middlemen. Influence and bribery has no space in the recruitment process, he said.

The Army ensures that the rural youth get equal opportunity. However, it is noticed that there are very few candidates enrolling for soldier technical and nursing assistant category. Indian Army requires youths qualified in maths and science to fill in technical vacancies, he added.

Army Recruiting Office Mangalore Director (Recruiting) Col C R Deshpande was present.