'No plan to shift Agniveer recruitment drive from Punjab,' says army; Mann directs officials to provide full support

New Delhi: The Indian Army on Wednesday said that there is no plan to shift recruitment rallies from Punjab to any other state. This comes after reports emerged that the forces were facing difficulties in carrying out the drive in Punjab. “It is clarified that, specifically in the state of Punjab, recruitment rallies in Ludhiana and Gurdaspur have been successfully conducted with the full support of civil administration. The registration and footfall of candidates have been encouraging as per trends of previous years,” sources said. “It is clarified that further rallies at Patiala (17 to 30 September), Ferozepur (1 to 16 November) and Jalandhar (21 November to 10 December), including Women Agniveers will also be conducted as scheduled in close coordination with Civil Administration,” they added. The sources added that the “Indian Army’s recruitment of Agniveers as per Agnipath scheme is progressing as per schedule for recruiting year 2022-23.” Meanwhile, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday directed officials to ensure complete support to the Indian Army for the recruitment of Agniveers in the state. “All Deputy commissioners were directed to provide complete support to Army Authorities for recruitment of Agniveers in Punjab. Any laxity shall be viewed seriously. Every effort will be made to recruit a maximum number of candidates into the army from the state,” he said. Punjab CM’s order comes after Army’s zonal recruitment office wrote to the Punjab government that the recruitment rallies under the Agnipath scheme may either be held in abeyance or shifted to neighbouring states due to “vacillating” support from the local administration. The Union Cabinet on 14 June approved a recruitment scheme for Indian youth to serve in the three services of the Armed Forces called Agnipath. The youth selected under this scheme will be known as ‘Agniveers’. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.