Some 400 youths from Nagaland cleared prelim tests last year
Morung Express News
Dimapur | June 20
The Central government is all set to put into operation the contentious Agnipath Scheme for the Indian armed forces amid violent protests. While the government announces dates for fresh recruitment process under the new recruitment policy, it appears that it has failed to take into account the fate of aspirants who participated in the mass recruitment rallies held across the country in 2021.
In Nagaland, some 5000 youths are estimated to have turned up for the preliminary physical and medical tests at the recruitment rally conducted at the Rangapahar Military Station (RMS), Dimapur, in March 2021. The RMS is said to be responsible for recruiting aspirants from Nagaland, Manipur and parts of Assam.
As per informed sources, around 400 aspirants from the state passed the initial tests and were set to appear the Common Entrance Examinations (CEE), which were scheduled in April 2021.
Owing to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CEE was postponed till May 31, 2021 with the Defence establishment informing that “fresh dates would be communicated as and when confirmed.” However, the dates for the scheduled CEE were not announced as anticipated leaving the aspirants in the lurch.
More than a year later, in June 14, 2022, the Agnipath Scheme— designed in the lines of a short service commission was announced by the Defence Minister.
A revolutionary concept, as far as India is concerned, it projected to turn the armed forces leaner, younger and more heterogeneous, alongwith the added objective of cutting down military expenses, though not officially admitted, the announcement failed to account the fate of aspirants, who have passed the preliminaries in 2021.
Now, critics of the new recruitment policy feel that it is unfair to ignore the preliminaries of 2021. “From the perspective of the aspirants, who passed the tests last year (2021), it would be unfair to have them go through the same process of recruitment again,” commented a source, who wished to remain anonymous.
Maj Gen RS Guraya, Chief of Staff (CoS), 3 Corps Hq, was queried on this at a press conference called in connection to the Agnipath Scheme at the RMS on June 15, subsequent to the Defence Minister’s announcement a day earlier. The CoS had responded that he was not in a position to comment on the matter. The PRO (Defence), Kohima later informed that instruction with regard to the 2021 recruitment rally in Dimapur is being awaited.
Meanwhile, as announced by the government, recruitment under the new policy is scheduled to begin afresh soon.
Feeling the heat of protests against the new policy, the government has announced appeasement measures, among which includes a one-time age relaxation since there had been no recruitment in the last two years.
Supposedly a considerate move, the source held that the age relaxation would hardly serve the aspiration of the aspirants, who have grown older and lost two years already.
