DEHRADUN: Around 600 young women — between 19 to 21 years old — hailing from different parts of Uttarakhand will be undergoing intensive training to qualify in the recruitment process that the Army will be conducting early next year to induct women as jawans in its Corps of Military Police (CMP). The training camps which are being organised by the Uttarkashi-based Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM), one of the premier mountaineering institutes in the country. in association with an NGO Youth Foundation Uttarakhand are believed to be the first such initiative to coach women interested in joining the Army as jawans.

The camps will be held in Srinagar (in Pauri Garhwal) and Dehradun and will commence from October 22.

Col Ajay Kothiyal, principal of NIM said that the selected women would undergo comprehensive physical training as well as preparations for written examinations in order to qualify for the CMP. “They will be made to do running, push-ups and other exercises for at least three months. One of the important criteria for joining CMP is knowing how to drive so we will be teaching them that as well,” he added.

Elaborating on the criteria for shortlisting the candidates, Suresh Negi, administrator, Youth Foundation Uttarakhand, said, “Army sources have confirmed to us that the recruitment for CMP is likely to start from January next year. Therefore, we have planned the pre-recruitment camps accordingly so that the candidates are ready by the time the recruitment process begins. We have received an overwhelming response. Around 2000 young women applied for the training out of which around 600 were selected after evaluating various criteria. For instance, the minimum height requirement is at least 157 cm and the candidates should have scored at least 45% in class X. They should also be unmarried.”

Nida Fatima, one of those made it to the final shortlist told TOI, “I come from a Muslim family and though my family has been supportive of my decision to join the Army, many in my area think I should just be under a burqa. I want to prove them wrong and become the the first from my locality to join the Army.”

In a similar vein, Neha Bisht whose father Narinder Singh Bisht, a havaldar in the 4 Garhwal Rifles who was killed in action in Jammu and Kashmir two months back, said that she wants to carry forward his legacy. “Since my childhood, I wanted to join the Army. After my father’s death, the resolve has become even stronger. I hope to follow in my father’s footsteps and lead the life that I had always wanted to live”, she said.

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