Imphal, December 19, 2005 (The Telegraph)

The army in Manipur today cautioned the public against cheats out to make a quick buck by duping candidates of the ongoing recruitment drive for raising a battalion of the territorial army in the state.

Defence minister Pranab Mukherjee announced the Centre’s decision to raise a territorial army battalion in Manipur during his recent visit to the state. The recruitment drive, which began on Saturday, will be held in all nine districts of Manipur.

An army source said thousands of youths had responded to the recruitment drive and assured that preference would be given to local candidates.

The Centre took the decision of raising the army unit, known as “home and hearth battalion”, as part of its two-pronged strategy to provide jobs to unemployed youths and step up counter-insurgency operations.

Army spokesman Lt Col S.D. Goswami said since the launch of the recruitment drive in Tamenglong last weekend, there were reports of touts and impostors trying to make easy money by duping gullible candidates. These touts reportedly extracted thousands of rupees from candidates in exchange for the assurance that they would be given a place in the battalion.

Goswami, while cautioning the people against being hoodwinked, assured that the recruitment process was transparent and there was no room for foul play or bribery. The selection procedure was being monitored by a board of officers and could even be made public, he said.

The officer said those recruited in the past were given a place in the army solely on merit.

The army’s apprehension is not unfounded. Only last month, a retired army official from Thoubal district reportedly tried to extort money from a family in Imphal West posing as an Assam Rifles official. The Assam Rifles clarified that none of its officers was involved, and launched an inquiry into the incident.