Meerut: Bhagavad Gita is a military manual and should be read by all the youngsters, said Major General Subhash Sharan. The additional director-general of Army recruitment in Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Uttarakhand added that “the Gita prepares us for all eventualities of life”.

Major General Sharan was in Meerut on Friday after the first round of recruitment rally in western UP which was held in Baghpat’s Baraut from May 25 to June 15, this year.

The Major General further said that Bhagavad Gita contains instructions which are usually imparted on the battlefield. “Bhagavad Gita is not a religious book. Youngsters must read it for the simple reason that it will prepare us for all eventualities of life. Bhagavad Gita is a military manual which contains instructions which is given in the battlefield. In the battlefield, we only talk about war. Therefore, I call the Bhagavad Gita a military manual,” he explained.

Major General Sharan recalled that the American army had taken copies of Bhagavad Gita from India for their soldiers who were about to be deployed in war-torn Iraq. “To motivate their soldiers, the Americans took 30,000 copies of Bhagavad Gita to teach them ‘Karma Yoga’, that is, the reason behind fighting a battle and engaging their enemy without thinking about the final outcome,” he added.

Talking about the recruitment process, he said, “This year, the vacancy is one and a half times more than the previous years. We want more recruitment, particularly from western UP. The vacancy for western UP is 1,500 as compared to 900 of last year.”

The Major General also shed light on one of the major breakthroughs in the Indian Army where women would be inducted as jawans in military police. “The first recruitment for women as jawans will start later this year in Lucknow in the months of August and September. Their training will begin in Bengaluru in January next year. Truly, it is a start and as the system mature further, other services will also be thrown open to them,” said Major General Sharan.