NDA gears up for Inducting First Batch of Girl Cadets

New Delhi: National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla, the prestigious Tri-Services military training institute of the country, is all geared up for training the first batch of girl cadets with effect from June 2022. "Akin to their male counterparts, girls of the age group 16½ to 19 years will undergo three years of military training after successfully clearing the UPSC NDA written exam, Services Selection Board (SSB) interviews and medicals", an official release from the Ministry of Defence mentioned.

"A total of 19 vacancies namely, 10 for Army, 06 for Air Force and 03 for the Navy have been allotted by the respective Service HQs for the first batch of girls at NDA", it added.

The training objective at NDA shall continue to remain as the centre of excellence for producing military leaders equipped with professional, moral and physical attributes required for leading the troops to victory in the future battlefields. With minimum changes to the existing curriculum the training in Academics, Drill, Outdoor Training, etc. will be conducted in an absolutely gender-neutral manner. However, owing to physiological differences between male and female cadets, the aspect of Physical Training may entail certain changes in the training of girl cadets.

The dedicated support staff will be provided for facilitating the training of girl cadets. The majority of training activities shall be conducted jointly keeping their employability in mind, wherein the women officers are required to command the troops of men. Similar training methodology already exists in other Pre-Commissioning Training Academics like OTA Chennai, INA Ezhimala and AFA Hyderabad.

For the stay of girl cadets, one of the squadrons has been identified and is being refurbished with amenities and requirements specific for their training. Actions are underway to augment the existing infrastructure. Requisite modifications will also be undertaken to conform to gender-specific lifestyle requirements. Whereas, in the long term, a separate squadron is being envisaged exclusively for girl cadets.

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