Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik conceded lack of awareness among the Goan youth to join the defense forces. Addressing a press conference to announce special recruitment drive for the Goans in the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Tuesday, the minister said that the focus earlier was limited to strengthening the Goa police force but now an attempt is being made to encourage the young blood to join armed forces too. 
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“Earlier, there wasn’t much focus towards joining the armed forces. We are now creating awareness to encourage them to join the defence forces, because many of our youth are intelligent as well as physically fit. I am certain we will have more and more Goans to serve the nation once the present recruitment drive begins,” he stated. 
The Lok Sabha MP added that awareness particularly in the villages has been lacking but it would soon be taken care of.  “We are holding ‘Know Your Army’ camps in the next 5-6 months. This is another step to create awareness among the Goans to come forward to join the defence forces,” he added. 
Ex-Indian Navy Anant Joshi, who is assisting the ministry with the upcoming recruitment drive, cited lack of confidence and physical fitness as the two reasons for the low number of locals in the armed forces. Notwithstanding these reasons, Joshi has been imparting training to nearly 200 boys to prepare for various posts in the defence.