headquarters’ Recruiting Zone, Kolkata, said that recruit ment of Agniveers from West Bengal in 2024 is highly unlikely as the state government has failed to provide support for organ ising physical and medical tests for candidates who cleared the online Com mon Entrance Examina tion (CEE). “The first rounds of phys ical and medical screenings for the successful candi dates were to be conduct ed in July and August at Barrackpore and Siliguri. Despite requests to the Department of Home Af fairs, Government of West Bengal, no administrative support was forthcoming for these screenings which are loosely referred to as ‘recruit ment rallies’,” said a senior official of Headquarters Re cruiting Zone, Kolkata. He added that the admin istrative support includes maintenance of law and order at the venues and traffic control. “As a result, the screenings could not be conducted,” he said. The official added that the screenings scheduled for September and November in Kolkata and Murshid abad have also been put on hold as the first two could not be conducted. “This ef fectively means that there will be no recruitment to the Army from West Bengal in 2024,” he said. The state Home Depart ment has yet to respond to these allegations. However, sources at the Recruitment Zone, Kolkata, said that immediate steps need to be taken to prevent West Bengal’s quota from moving to other states. “The most structured and formal policy toward equi table representation in the Armed Forces across states took shape after 1999 with the introduction of the Zon al Recruitment Policy. This policy was designed to en sure a balanced recruitment process and adequate repre sentation from all states in the Indian Armed Forces. Such incidents will affect the whole process,” the of ficial added. In 2023, nearly 3,900 youngsters from West Bengal had joined the Army as Agniveers. Of them, about 1,000 have the chance of being permanently absorbed by the Army, while the remain ing will be returning after four years and can then apply for recruitment in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs). The CAPFs, including the BSF, SSB, CRPF, and CISF, have announced relaxations in the recruitment process for Agniveers who return after serving in the Indian armed forces for four years. According to the, nearly 37,500 candidates from West Bengal registered themselves for the recruit ment process in 2024. About 16,000 of them cleared the CEE that was conducted between April 22 and May 3, 2024. Adequate support was provided by the state home department dur ing the online CEE. IANS