In the army recruitment rally that started today, about 7,000 hopefuls from various districts, mainly Ludhiana, Roopnagar and Mohali, made a beeline for the rally site from 6 am, and waited for hours for their turn to get the tokens for physical tests that begin tomorrow.

However, for the technical categories, the strength was far lower than the expectations of the recruiters. This was despite the fact that for Soldier Clerk/SKT and Soldier Technical categories, candidates from all districts of the state are eligible, provided they fulfill the educational qualifications.

“There is an acute shortage of candidates in Soldier Technical Category. We want to induct many soldiers in the technical category, which requires educational qualification up to Class 12 with Physics, Chemistry, Maths and English,” informed Col S Azimuddin, Director Recruiting, Ludhiana.

The recruitment rally, which will go on till February 8, is being conducted for Soldier (General Duty), Soldier Clerk, Soldier Technical and Soldier Tradesmen entry.

“It is a cause for concern that very few candidates are available for the technical category,” Col Azimuddin said. He added that the state should do some soul-searching into the reason of not being able to provide candidates in the technical category, which is like a walk-in job opportunity if the candidates fulfil the criteria.

“One more worrying factor is that many of the candidates do not have the required standard of maintenance for the documents,” he pointed out.

Col S Azimuddin highlighted that many of these candidates are from rural areas. “We are trying to hold campaigns in the schools and colleges of the city, so that candidates from the city too take a keen interest in the job opportunities in the Army. But since it is a city many youngsters take up the family business, only a small number of candidates look to the Army as their first choice.”

Manpreet Singh from Issra in Sangrur, one of the candidates for technical category, said that he looked upon a career in Army as a good option. He said that it was a good opportunity for candidates like him since there was not much scope elsewhere to land a job after Class XII.