Members of the Mukti Bahini preparing for their next guerilla attack.
On May 1, 1971, General SHFJ Manekshaw issued the Indian Army Operational Instruction No. 52. A structured policy to provide training facilities and logistical and operational support for the liberation of Bangladesh was prepared by Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Eastern Command. The Indian Army was responsible for training, equipping, and providing logistical support to Mukti Bahini. Selection of personnel, discipline, motivation, planning and execution of operations were an exclusive prerogative of the Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) Bangladesh. An elaborate procedure was adopted for the selection of recruits for Mukti Bahini. Youth from all over Bangladesh were recruited to cover the entire territory. They were trained in the Indian Army's Operation Jackpot sectors' training camps located close to their native places. The Indian Government's Ministry of Rehabilitation, along with the Bangladesh Government, established special two-tier camps for young Bangladeshis. Later, these youth camps served as recruiting centres for Operation Jackpot training camps. In the first tier, youth reception camps were established along various routes of entry about six to eight kilometres from the Indo-Bangladesh border for (i) providing rest and shelter for the youth after a long and arduous journey, (ii) verifying their identity, (iii) checking against infiltration by Pakistani agents, and (iv) holding them for a few days pending to admission into regular Youth Relief Camps which were established in centralised locations. The objectives of the second tier youth camps were to (i) channelise and train the youths into organised and purposeful activities in service of Bangladesh on their return, (ii) serve as holding camps from which the trainees for Bangladesh Armed Forces, regulars and guerrillas would be recruited, (iii) train others as base-workers to supplement regulars and guerrillas. Expenditure for each camp of 500 trainees calculated at 1,55,000 rupees was catered by India. A total of 25 such youth camps were established.