As may as 5,000 aspirants from various states took part in the five-day recruitment rally conducted by the 110 Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army), Madras Regiment, Red Fields, which began here on Wednesday. The drive to fill in 25 vacancies will go on till Sunday.
Aspirants queued at the Police Recruits School Ground as early as 4 a.m. Apart from Tamil Nadu, youths had come from Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Goa, Lakshadweep and Puducherry.
The drive began with the physical fitness test where the candidates had to run 1,600 meters in five minutes, climb a rope, a wall, cross hurdles amidst other tests. Over the next four days certificate verification, medical test and interview will be conducted for the candidates.
Commanding officer of the 110 Infantry Battalion K. Loganathan said that it was encouraging to see many graduates taking part in the rally for the posts for which the required minimum qualification was only a pass in the 10th standard.
There was disappointment among a large section of candidates as they complained that they were unaware of the number of vacancies.
They also said that some of them had come from other States yesterday and that they had difficulty due to lack of basic amenities.