Bengaluru : With the Assembly elections slated for early next year, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is on a roll. In an attempt to woo the rural populace, the Chief Minister has announced military training for over 3,000 youths to help them gain entry to the Armed Forces.
The government, he said, would earmark Rs 11.44 crore “to help them pass actual tests during military recruitment drives”.
The concept, named ‘One Soldier from Every Village’, comes after the government realized the recruitment numbers to Armed Forces in the state is plummeting over the years. Conceived by the Backward Classes Welfare Department, the programme will be implemented by the Karnataka Vocational Training and Skill Development Corporation.
Muralidhar Halappa, chairperson of Skill Development Corporation, told Bangalore Mirror that the training programme for 3,000 youths would be held on a pilot basis and depending on its success, training would be imparted in multiple batches. “Youngsters from the rural background have little or no exposure to the Armed Forces. Most had to be contented with small government jobs or becoming teachers.
Through this initiative, we would like to expose them to different opportunities. If anyone is interested, they can even prepare for National Defence Academy (NDA) tests and get through officers’ recruitment process in defence and other paramilitary forces,” Halappa explained.
The trigger for Karnataka to launch the programme is the alarming fall in the number of youngsters recruited to various Armed Forces.
“While the numbers have been falling over the years, it was alarming last year as only 77 were recruited from Karnataka while 8,000-9,000 from other states made their way to the forces. Usually youngsters from Koppal, Bagalkot, Vijayapura and Belagavi get recruited to forces. But in recent times, their numbers too have fallen as they failed to clear physical endurance tests. Out training sessions will help them clear such tests,” Halappa said.
The programme is already making noises in the political circle. “The free training would only boost youngsters’ confidence and helps them find jobs in Armed Forces. No government ever had come up with a concept of this kind,” said a Congress leader.
Note: News shared for public awareness with reference from the information provided at online news portals.