The Army Services Corps centre in Gaya. Picture by Suman

Gaya, June 21: The officers’ training academy (OTA) is all set to start functioning at Gaya within a month.

The OTA at Gaya will be only second within the country after Chennai where the first batch of 200 cadets will begin their training shortly.

The development of infrastructure at OTA has been almost complete following which the defence ministry has sanctioned the inauguration of the OTA at Gaya. The OTA at Gaya is being set up on the same premises of the Army Services Corps (ASC) centre (North), which has finally been shifted to Bangalore.

In 2008, the army had placed a proposal to start a second OTA at Gaya after Chennai. The cabinet committee on security (CCS) formally approved the Gaya OTA project in December 2009. Sources said the OTA at Gaya would begin with imparting training to 200 short service commission (SSC) cadets in the ranks of captain, major and lieutenant colonels who lead the troops. Later, the capacity would be increased to 750 cadets.

These 750 cadets would be the additional recruitment of officers by the army to bridge the shortage in its cadre strength every year from 2011. At present, the army gets 600 SSC officers annually from the Chennai OTA. Meanwhile, after remaining at Gaya for more than 35 years, the ASC centre (north) has finally been shifted to Bangalore to get merged with Army Services Corps (ASC) centre (south).

Earlier, the ASC centre (north) was established at Gaya in 1976 following the efforts of former defence minister Babu Jagjivan Ram. ASC (north) was one of the two army centres existing in Bihar.

The other is at Danapur, home of Bihar Regimental Centre. The shifting of ASC (north) would have multiple effects.

When the ASC centre used to be at Gaya, around 5,000 army personnel were present in various ranks. Around Rs 12-15 crore was spent on their salary every month and almost half the amount was spent in the local market for buying clothes, cereals, vegetables, cosmetics, books and other items. Personnel at the ASC have planted lakhs of saplings that helps keep the temperature around the centre at least 2 to 5 degree Celsius below the normal temperature at Gaya during summer.

The trained soldiers present at the centre were ready to serve the society during natural calamity like floods in north Bihar. Apart from that, there was a feeling of security among people residing around the ASC area. However, with the shifting of the ASC, residents have been deprived of these benefits.