Haryana does Army proud, Punjab loses prime position

CHANDIGARH: Haryana is struggling with caste conflicts bloody protests demanding caste-based quotas and emergence of caste-oriented outfits, but the Haryanvi youth are looking beyond caste issues to join the Indian armed forces in growing numbers.Official data sourced from Indian Military Academy (IMA) has revealed that out of the total 832 Indian cadets who passed out from the prestigious institute this year in the June and December terms, 107 cadets were from Haryana, meaning some 13% officers of the total number of officers produced this year by the academy were from Haryana.This is significant as all these officers were selected without any quota, as the Indian armed forces do not have a reservation policy for selection of officers.Haryana constitutes just 2.9% of India's total population and contribution of 107 officers in a year is perhaps the highest by a state.In both the terms of 2016, Haryana had produced 106 officers of the 966 total cadets commissioned.The passing out parade for December term, held on Saturday at IMA Dehradun, 58 of the total 409 cadets were from Haryana. In June this year, as many as 49 of 423 cadets commissioned as officers were from Haryana.The largest state, Uttar Pradesh has 150 officers this year, but as the state constitutes 16% of the country’s population, Haryana’s contribution is highest in terms of percentage.Other states like West Bengal, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Kerala and Bihar have produced 17, 48, 53, 23 and 53 officers, respectively from IMA this year. Several other large states have negligible presence in terms of producing officers for the Army. Punjab, once known as sword arm of nation, is far behind Haryana as only 41(17 in June and 24 in December) cadets passed out as officers this year. From Himachal Pradesh, 39 cadets (18 in June and 21 in December) donned the olive green after passing out from premier training academy.Professor Ranbir Singh, former dean (social sciences) Kurukshetra University, said people of Haryana, especially those belonging to the farming community, are psychologically and physically very strong and have a tradition of joining armed forces. “Since there is no reservation in the selection of the armed forces, young boys prepare extremely well and that is a key factor in their success in joining the armed forces,” Singh added.Military veteran and retired Haryana DGP M S Malik said, “I am sure maximum boys from rural background and those belonging to farming community are joining the forces. The fair and rigorous selection process, absence of any kind of reservation and motivation for a decent job because of shrinking of landholdings in the state is the real factor in this surge from a small state.”The data has not been quantified, but a significantnumber of cadets from Haryana are also passing out from the Officers’ Training Academies of Chennai and Gaya and IAF and Naval academies.