If you aspire to join the Indian Army then Danapur Cantonment is the place to be from November 18.

Youths from Patna and six other selected districts in Bihar have been urged by headquarters recruiting zone — Bihar and Jharkhand — to participate in a recruitment drive to be held between November 18 and 28. Apart from Patna, “courageous youths” have been called from Buxar, Gopalganj, Vaishali, Siwan, Saran and Bhojpur to participate in the drive to join the army, arguably the most-disciplined force in the world.

The recruitment is being done for five categories of soldiers, including general duty, technical, nursing assistant, tradesman and clerk or keeper. Eligible youths aged 17.5 years and maximum up to 23 years seeking an adventurous, disciplined and challenging career in the armed forces can test their mettle in the drive.

The drive would be conducted at the newly constructed complex of headquarters recruiting zone (Bihar and Jharkhand) near Chandmari, Defence Colony at Danapur Cantonment. The entry of the interested candidates would start from 4am and the tests would continue throughout the day.

After registration, the candidates would be required to participate in a 1.6km sprint at the ground of the newly constructed complex of the recruiting headquarters at Danapur Cantonment. Following the sprint, the candidates would go for a few other physical fitness tests. The final step would be a medical examination of the candidates who cleared the sprint and fitness tests.

Different districts have been allotted separate days. November 18, 19 and 20 have been slotted for Bhojpur. Youths from Gopalganj would also be assessed on November 20. November 21 has been slotted for Vaishali and November 22-23 for Buxar. Youths from Siwan would be assessed on November 24, whereas those from Saran would appear for the recruitment November 25 and 26. November 27 and 28 have been slotted for youths from Patna.

Deliberating on the transparency of the recruitment process in the army, Brigadier S.K. Dutta, the deputy director-general of headquarters recruiting zone (Bihar-Jharkhand), said: “The enrolment system is computerised and is transparent. During the drive, candidates who would clear the sprint, would be required to give their finger prints and other biometric details. The same details would be verified in the remaining four stages, including registration, medical, written examination and dispatch. The army recruitment process is the most transparent, fair and incorruptible and there is no possibility of penetration by touts. Hence, we would appeal all to join hands to eliminate the scourge of touts in the state.”