Service selection centre to be operational at Kapurthala from Tuesday

In an effort to tackle the shortage of officers in the army, it has been decided to set up a service selection centre at Ropar. The Punjab government has handed over 200 acres of land for the purpose to the army.

In an effort to tackle the shortage of officers in the army, it has been decided to set up a service selection centre at Ropar. The Punjab government has handed over 200 acres of land for the purpose to the army.

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This would be the army’s fourth service selection centre in the country and would be called the selection centre north (SCN).

Till the time the SCN comes up at Ropar, the centre would start functioning from July 1 at its temporary location in Kapurthala.

“The commissioning of the SCN in Punjab will greatly help in motivating young children from north India to join the armed forces and will provide job opportunities, besides aiding growth and development of the area,” a defence
spokesperson said.

“Currently, the army selects officers for enrolment through 10 service selection boards of three service selection centres, located at Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) and Bengaluru (Karnataka), following an elaborate and stringent but scientific process lasting five days,” the spokesperson added.

The complex of the centre to come up at Ropar will emerge as a centre of excellence and take two to three years to be fully operational.

Year Shortage Shortage of officers in army

2012 10,100

2013 9,590

2014 8,455

2015 9,642 (as on Jan 1, 2015)

The shortage doesn’t include medical and dental branches. The figures were presented by the defence minister before the Lok Sabha in March 2015.