UP provided most soldiers, Pondicherry none

There was also no recruitment in this period from Dadar Nagar Haveli as well as Daman and Diu, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said in a statement in the Lok Sabha.

According to the statement, Uttar Pradesh was followed by Maharashtra (5,312), Bihar (4,540), Punjab (3,751), Rajasthan (3,602), West Bengal (3,535), Andhra Pradesh (2,890), Madhya Pradesh (2,761), Uttarakhand (2,585) and Haryana (2,452).

Chandigarh contributed just one soldier to the army in 2011-12.

Among southern states, Andhra Pradesh was followed by Tamil Nadu, which provided 2,377 soldiers during 2011-12, Kerala (2,077) and Karnataka (1,632).

From the northeast, Assam led with 1,019 soldiers followed by Manipur (587), Arunachal Pradesh (190), Nagaland (134), Sikkim (108), Tripura (104), Mizoram (94) and Meghalaya (91).