A youth from Sikar in Rajasthan ran to Delhi and joined the protests by Army aspirants at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday against the delay in recruitment. Suresh Bhichar started his run on March 29 and reached Delhi on April 2, covering over 350 kilometres, reported ANI.
Bhichar said his campaign was aimed at generating enthusiasm among youth to join the Indian Army. "I used to start the run at 4 in the morning and stopped only after reaching a petrol pump by 11 am, where I rested and received food from the Army aspirants in the nearby areas," he told the news agency.
Bhichar said though his passion was to join the Indian Army, he couldn’t do it and at present he is preparing for joining the Territorial Army (TA). He further revealed that his parents were meeting his education expenses after selling a cow and buffalo.
Meanwhile, around a thousand young Army aspirants staged a protest at Jantar Mantar against the delay in recruitment process. The protesters claimed that there has been no recruitment for the non-officer posts in the Army, Air Force and Navy for the last two years.
According to an Indian Express report, several candidates claimed that the Air Force has been actively recruiting candidates for the officer posts through AFCAT exams and the delay is only for recruitment to non-officer posts.
On March 21, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had informed the Rajya Sabha that the delay in recruitment process was due to Covid-19 pandemic.
In a written reply in the upper house, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said a total of 97 recruitment rallies were planned in 2020-21, out of which only 47 were conducted. In 2021-22, a total of 87 recruitment rallies were planned, but only four have been conducted so far.
