Instances of candidates submitting dubious nativity certificates have come to light at the recently held Army recruitment drive in Puducherry.
Officials suspected a major racket in the issue of such certificates to youth who are not natives of the region.
“Over 700 fake certificates have been seized from the applicants during the drive, and most of them bore the signatures of tahsildars of Ambur, Vaniyambadi and Katpadi in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu, and the stamps affixed were hazy,” a highly placed source said.
Candidates who produced such certificates were sent away. Sources told The Hindu that most of the applicants were from Vellore district.
“By convention, an Army recruitment drive is conducted on the basis of recruitable male population (RMP) ratio arrived at from Census 2011. The RMP ratio is 12.82 per cent in the recruitment zone comprising Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh,” a high-ranking officer said. Based on the ratio, the vacancies were determined for each district, with the highest being in Vellore.
Officials also suspected the involvement of touts dealing with Revenue Department staff. The fake certificates would be handed over to the Vellore Collector for further action, sources said.
The incident also caused concern among academics and higher education officials over the likely involvement of some Revenue Department employees in such malpractices in the education field, too.
Over 12,000 participateOver 12,000 candidates participated in the drive conducted from July 4.
The recruitment was open to candidates from Chennai, Thiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Vellore, Villupuram, Cuddalore, Tiruvannamalai and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
Those above 17 years and six months, up to 23 years as on July 4, were eligible.
