Assam's 'Super 30' to get trained by Army for recruitment as officers

Over 30 students from across Assam, selected through a rigorous process, will start preparing from Monday to join the armed forces as officers under an initiative led by the Indian Army, officials said.

This will be the second such program to be rolled out in the state, with another started late last year, they said.

The 'Super 30' program to motivate youths from the state to enroll as officers in the armed forces is supported by the state government and undertaken in collaboration with NGO National Integrity and Educational Development Organisation (NIEDO), defence spokesperson Lt Col Mahendra Rawat said.

While the first program was started in Dibrugarh in November last year, the second one will begin in Tamulpur on Monday.

"There is a sizeable presence of youths from Assam in the lower ranks but officer-level personnel are very few. This program has been conceptualised by the Eastern Command of the Indian Army to motivate and enable talented students to join the armed forces as officers," he said.

Lt Gen (retd) Rana Pratap Kalita, who had retired as the head of the Eastern Command last month, had also earlier stressed on encouraging more youths from the state to join the armed forces in the officer cadre.

It will be a residential training program to be held at the Army Station in Tamulpur, and two batches of students will be inducted this year. The next intake will be in April, the spokesperson said.

"All students who qualify the written examination will be mentored for the next phase of selection by the Service Selection Board (SSB)," he said.

Last week, the Army signed an agreement with NIEDO, which will conduct the training.

The students have been selected through an exhaustive selection process, which included written examinations and interviews, Lt Col Rawat said.

"We are hopeful that these students will serve the nation through the armed forces," he added.

NIEDO CEO Rohit Srivastava said, "The programme for the first batch in Dibrugarh under the 2nd Mountain Division started in November. And, this is the first batch of Tamulpur under the 107 Brigade of 21 Mountain Division. The students were chosen on the basis of merit with no reservation policy."

He said that though the program is named 'Super 30', more than 30 students have been accommodated because of their excellent performance in the selection test.