After army recruitment chaos, situation is normal in Pithoragarh
PrashantNews
The situation on Thursday remained under control after an army recruitment drive in the hills of Pithoragarh district headquarters in Uttarakhand led to chaos with two youths suffering injuries in the stampede.
According to the Pithoragarh district administration, it all started with the sudden cancellation of a similar recruitment drive in Danapur in Bihar by the army for the unemployed youths.
After the cancellation of Danapur recruitment drive, thousands of youth from other states including Uttar Pradesh and Bihar started pouring into Pithoragarh. In the videos, the youths are seen trying to reach the recruitment centre in Pithoragarh by travelling in crowded buses and other vehicles. Soon the mismanagement occurred and it led to chaos in Pithoragarh as hundreds of youths continued to come in search of jobs in the army.
Pithoragarh District Magistrate Vinod Goswami said, ‘If the administration was informed on time about the sudden cancellation of Danapur recruitment, the candidates would not have faced inconvenience and if its dates had been rescheduled at that time, they would not have left for Pithoragarh. Due to the sudden cancellation of recruitment by the Territorial Army, a large number of candidates left for Pithoragarh and this situation arose.’
The situation became so chaotic that the authorities were forced to conduct a lathicharge on the surging crowd.
A stampede also occurred in the recruitment site where two youths were injured with minor wounds on Wednesday.
The District Magistrate said that by Thursday, about 25000 candidates reached Pithoragarh, out of which 18000 candidates have returned by afternoon after completing the recruitment process. He said that the situation in the district is under complete control.
Goswami said the recruitment by the Territorial Army was to be held in Pithoragarh of Uttarakhand from Nov 12 to 24. A meeting was held with Col Uttam Kumar Singh of the Territorial Army in this regard. Col Singh said the recruitment was being organized for 113 posts for Uttarakhand and 411 posts for other states.
Goswami said the recruitment of Danapur was suddenly cancelled by the Territorial Army on 17 November, which was informed to the district administration through a letter on 18 November.
The District Magistrate alleged that the Army officials neither made any phone call nor sent any email in this regard. He said that due to the cancellation of recruitment, the candidates going to Danapur started travelling to Pithoragarh. He said that a total of 8274 candidates from Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh participated in the recruitment rally from Nov 12 to 17 without any hindrance.