Thousands of youths from different parts of the country landed here to attend the two-day recruitment rally of the Territorial Army (TA) that began on the sprawling ground inside the station of the 122 Infantry Battalion (TA) of the Madras Regiment.
The open recruitment rally is being conducted here under Zone 4 of the TA that covers Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Goa, and Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep, and Puducherry.
There was a long queue of thousands of candidates, many of whom chose to sleep on pavements near the battalion station to attend the rally that began early in the morning. The first day of the rally was earmarked for candidates from the southern States.
TA personnel and the local police were present near the venue to manage the crowd of thousands of candidates.
10,000 candidates
“The response to the TA open rally here is overwhelming as an estimated 10,000 candidates are expected to attend the two-day event,” said TA battalion station Commandant Col. Rajesh Kanojia. Noting that it was very satisfying to see the high turnout of youths to undergo the selection process, Col. Kanojia, who is the presiding officer of the rally, told The Hindu that though the minimum education eligibility set for the candidates is class X, there were candidates even with B.Tech.
Col. Kanojia and Army officers from TA headquarters in New Delhi and Group Headquarters in Pune oversaw the selection process that included field tests such as race, beam, and chest expansion tests, physical test, medical test, and interview by a board of officers. The fittest among candidates in the 18-42 age group managed to get selected.
Battalion officers said that despite the huge turnout for the open rally, the selection process continued without any ruckus. They hoped that the rally would be completed as scheduled, giving all those who turned up a chance to go through the selection process. The recruitment rally was scheduled for two days in anticipation of the huge response, the officers said.