Around a thousand young aspirants on Tuesday gathered at Jantar Mantar to protest against the delay in the army recruitment process. They claim that there has been no recruitment in the Indian Army, Indian Airforce and Indian Naval Academy for the non-officer posts for the last two years which has severely affected their career.
Talking to indianexpress.com, Rakesh Meena, said, “I appeared in the Airforce’s Central Airmen Selection Board exam in July last year and the result was scheduled to be announced in three weeks. However, nine months later I am still waiting for the selection list to be released. I belong to a marginalised family and this delay is causing a huge financial burden on me and my family.”
Several candidates complained that the Indian Airforce has been actively recruiting candidates for the officer posts through AFCAT exam, but the delay is only being done for non-officer post recruitment.
One of the protesters claimed that the delay in recruitment notification will impact the age eligibility criteria hence excluding several candidates to participate in the recruitment rally due to the upper age limit cap.
“For two years, I have been waiting to appear in the army recruitment rally, but all I get is a delayed notification. I am twenty three years old and this is the last chance for me to apply for the army recruitment given the upper age limit. The government should increase the upper age limit criteria as a special case given the Covid-19 situation has severely impacted employment opportunities,” a protester shared.
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on March 21 informed Rajya Sabha that the recruitment process in the Army has been suspended for the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
As per Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt’s written reply in the Rajya Sabha, a total of 97 recruitment rallies were planned in 2020-21, out of which only 47 were conducted. Out of the 47 recruitment rallies, Common Entrance Exam (CEE) for only four rallies could be conducted before suspension of the recruitment drive due to the pandemic.
A total of 87 recruitment rallies were to be held in 2021-22, of which only four have been conducted yet and no CEE could be conducted.
In response to a question whether the Government would provide an opportunity by relaxing the upper age-limit criteria due to delay in recruitment exam, Bhatt said that no such proposal has been considered by the Army and IAF. “However, the Indian Navy has granted one time age relaxation of six months to candidates in the recruitment cycle for the first batch of the year 2021 in the aftermath of COVID-19 as a special case,” he said.
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