The Gujarat Government may have been aggressive on social issues like malnutrition, but during the Army recruitment drives, most of the youngsters of the State are not able to match the basic criteria of physical tests.

In a recently held camp in the State, more than 39,000 youngsters appeared but hardly 500 of them could match the tough criteria of physical tests, said a senior official associated with the recruitment drive.   

One of the major reasons for not matching the criterion of Army physical test is the habit of chewing tobacco, especially in rural parts of Gujarat. “Because of tobacco chewing, stamina level of youngsters goes drastically down and they could not meet the physical tests related to running the distance in stipulated time,” he said.

According to him, majority of Gujarat population is vegetarian and as a result of it many youngsters were also found protein deficient. “The criteria of height and chest are extremely important. But many aspirants are not able to match this,” he said, adding that surprisingly, in the neighboring States like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra most of the youngsters are matching all these criteria, which is in itself a case of study. 

When The Pioneer contacted a senior health department official, he confirmed that rampant tobacco chewing habit among youngsters in the State is prevailing and the State Government actually needs to launch a campaign against it.

As far as liquor is concerned, Gujarat has put a ban on consumption and sale of alcohol, same sort of policy should be adopted in the case of tobacco too as it leads to fatal disease like cancer, he opined. 

Meanwhile, a new website has been launched by the Indian Army for online registration for enrolment of Officers and recruitment of Junior Commissioned Officers and other ranks. 

Based on schedules planned, on-line applications will now be invited on www.joinindianarmy.nic.in for all entries, less those of officers through UPSC. There will be no “Open Rally” system, but only on-line registration, and subsequently candidates will be “called for recruitment”.  Candidates who do not register on-line will not be permitted to participate in the recruitment process. The aim of the new online registration process is to save candidates from touts and agents and to increase transparency in the recruitment process.