Tamil Nadu’s army recruits ‘soldier on’ for a brighter, safer tomorrow

Dressed in dapper white shirts and black trousers, the candidates were busy filling up forms, watched on by their proud parents. The candidates’ sense of relief was palpable after the gruelling selection process of a written examination, physical tests and medical examinations at the recruitment rally in Puducherry from February 4 to 10.

Many of the selected candidates come from humble backgrounds from all over Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

“We have struggled hard to make our children study and now, we hope that he will protect our frontiers and make us proud,” said a beaming Murugesan P, a 52-year-old farmer from Pudupalayam village in Tiruvannamalai, as his son Premkumar, was enrolled in the Indian Army farmer.

 It was a bitter-sweet moment for Narendran KS from Vellore. “I am proud to be a part of the Indian Army, but I am also sad to leave my home and family behind. My father works as a coolie and I have an 18-year-old sister doing her class 12 in a government school. I want to ensure that she gets to attend a good college,” he said.

Colonel Sunil Bhatt, Director, Recruiting, said that the candidates will be despatched to their respective training centres across the country, including the Madras Regiment Centre at Wellington and Arty Centre Hyderabad.

“The candidates will undergo a six-month basic training course at their respective centres, which will be extended depending on their specialisation,” said the Colonel.

“Districts like Vellore, Tiruvannamalai and Villupuram showed tremendous participation.

We want to see similar response from other districts such as Kanchipuram, Cuddalore and Chennai too.”