Applicants for army recruitment rally dip 25% over last year

In a statewide rally for recruitment of soldiers in the army, online registrations have seen a 25% dip over the past year with 15,134 candidates applying against 20,295 applications received last year.

From the process that kicked off at Dholewal Military Station, Ludhiana, on Wednesday, three major infantry regiments of the army — the Sikh Regiment, the Sikh Light Infantry and the Punjab Regiment — have been augmented. The recruitment rally will continue till April 8. Over 5,000 candidates of Ludhiana district will appear for trials on Thursday. On Friday, 3,000-odd candidates from Moga and over 2,000 candidates from Mohali district will appear for the trials. On the first day, trials of 4,896 candidates of Rupnagar district were conducted. Among these, 4,270 applied for the post of soldier (general duty), 205 for soldier (technical), 373 for soldier (clerk/store-keeper technical) and 21 for solider (technical nursing assistant).

Major Tejpal Singh Bedi, who was managing the rally on Wednesday, said, “This year, there are no vacancies for soldier (tradesmen) that were there last year. That is why, there is a difference in participation.”

Colonel AK Ranaut, director recruiting (for states of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir) said, “Candidates are being screened for their physical fitness and medical examination and documentation. They are also being screened for drug intake.” He added successful candidates would undergo a written test on May 27 and merit-holders will be posted to training centres.