Selection Centre North to move to Jalandhar

Therefore, despite political opposition in Punjab over shifting of the centre, it as moved to Kapurthala by the Army Recruiting authorities. It had raised a political storm at the time with politicians who represent Ropar and surrounding areas protesting over the move as they felt the Selection Centre could have given impetus to the growth of the area. Now, the same reasons which led to the move from Ropar to Kapurthala are being cited for the move from Kapurthala to Jalandhar. Lack of connectivity with rail network has been cited as a major reason along with lack of hospital facilities.

Army officers familiar with the developments say that the location of the selection centre in Kapurthala was an interim arrangement till adequate accommodation for it could be found in Jalandhar. The officer said that now that the Corps HQs at Jalandhar had moved to its new key location plan (KLP), there was adequate space for the selection centre to be set up in the premises that the HQs had vacated, The selection centre will move to its new location in Jalandhar as soon as peripheral issues relating to land needed for the obstacle course etc are sorted out with the HQs Western Command, say sources.

The other selection centres in the country are also located in bigger cities with Selection Centre East functioning from Prayagraj in UP, Selection Centre Central in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh and Selection Centre South from Bengaluru, Karnataka. The IAF has a selection centre in Dehradun.

The Selection Centre North had hit the headlines in March 2021 when the CBI filed an FIR against 23 persons including Army officers and other personnel in connection with bribes paid by candidates to get selected as officer cadets at the centre. The CBI conducted searches at 30 places across the country and identified a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) posted at Base Hospital Delhi Cantonment as the kingpin of the scam. Several officers of the rank of Major and Lt Col have also been named by CBI in its investigation including a newly commissioned Lieutenant who is alleged to have paid a bribe to get selected. In May this year, the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) refused to intervene in the suspension of a Lt Colonel of the Army Air Defence Corps named in the SSB scam. The investigation into the scam is still underway and further prosecution of the accused is awaited.