Youngsters aspiring to join the armed forces take note. If you are brandishing fancy tattoos on your bodies, chances are that you will be rejected outright following recent orders issued to all recruitment centres throughout the country.
The order came about after the armed forces received complaints from some recruitment centres that several aspirants were sporting tattoos which went against military ethos and the officers in charge of these units sought clear cut instructions from the headquarters.
The recruitment process entails a written test followed by physical endurance test. The potential recruit has to perform the prescribed drills in a pair of shorts and a sleeveless vest and at this stage the recruiters found out that many aspirants were having non-permanent fancy tattoos on their chest and upper arms, officials said on Wednesday.
Admitting that this is a recent phenomenon, they said youngsters are influenced by their favorite Bollywood stars who have taken to tattoos as a style statement. Faced with such cases, the services took a policy decision to ban all tattoos which do not prescribe to military rules, sources said.
In fact, the services have now started highlighting the dos and don’ts regarding tattoos in their advertisements for recruitment rallies, they said adding a sustained publicity will also be launched shortly. It will help the aspiring recruits to remove the non-permanent tattoos before appearing for the tests and cut out the risk of getting rejected, officials said.
However, the new rule allows religious tattoos besides those like name of the person on specified areas of the body like forearm and back of the hands only. While there is no restriction on the size, officials said the tattoo should not be very big. Tribals are also allowed to have tattoos as per their customs, they added.
Also the tattoos should not be lewd, offensive or objectionable and in case such tattoos are detected, the candidate will be recommended to the nearest Services hospital to see if the tattoo can be removed and the doctor will take the final call in this regard, sources said.
The decision to ban fancy tattoos was taken after studying rules followed by various armies like the US, UK and others, officials said adding the US does not allow any lewd tattoos. Officials said the US follows this rule as objectionable tattoos go against military discipline and religious tattoos are allowed on exposed parts of the body while wearing a uniform or fatigues while performing PT.