DEHRADUN, India: The Indian army’s decision to reduce the minimum height for recruits from the Himalayan states has witnessed an increase of about 30 percent in applicants.
The height criteria had been reduced from 166cm to 163 cm in August.
The decision has led to a substantial increase of about 30 percent alone in Uttarakhand in the number of aspirants applying to training camps, The Times of India reported.
The decision of lowering the minimum height requirement is applied to recruits from western Himalayan regions of occupied J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab as well as Garhwal and Kumaon in Uttarakhand
The impact of the new rule has been "immediate and drastic", say organizers of pre-recruitment training camps in Uttarakhand.
An Army recruitment official on condition of anonymity told the newspaper that the number of applicants to the Army had indeed risen.
"Several young men who had been rejected in previous drives after failing the height criteria participated in the latest recruitment exercise," he added.
Sources said approximately 18,000 youths had appeared in the recruitment drive held by the Army in Gauchar in Chamoli district in April while 22,000 aspirants lined up at the recruitment drive in Dehradun in October. This was the first recruitment drive conducted by the Army in Uttarakhand after the new height rule came into effect from October 1.