Over 30 students from across Assam, selected through a rigorous process, will start preparing from Monday to join the armed forces as officers under an initiative led by the Indian Army, officials said.

This will be the second such program to be rolled out in the state, with another started late last year, they said.

The ‘Super 30’ program to motivate youths from the state to enroll as officers in the armed forces is supported by the state government and undertaken in collaboration with NGO National Integrity and Educational Development Organisation (NIEDO), defence spokesperson Lt Col Mahendra Rawat said.

While the first program was started in Dibrugarh in November last year, the second one will begin in Tamulpur on Monday.

“There is a sizeable presence of youths from Assam in the lower ranks but officer-level personnel are very few. This program has been conceptualised by the Eastern Command of the Indian Army to motivate and enable talented students to join the armed forces as officers,” he said.

Lt Gen (retd) Rana Pratap Kalita, who had retired as the head of the Eastern Command last month, had also earlier stressed on encouraging more youths from the state to join the armed forces in the officer cadre.

It will be a residential training program to be held at the Army Station in Tamulpur, and two batches of students will be inducted this year. The next intake will be in April, the spokesperson said.

“All students who qualify the written examination will be mentored for the next phase of selection by the Service Selection Board (SSB),” he said.

Last week, the Army signed an agreement with NIEDO, which will conduct the training.