Haryana Has Highest Number of Girl Cadets in NDA

At 35, Haryana accounts for the maximum number of women who joined NDA, followed by Uttar Pradesh (28) and Rajasthan (13).

Haryana Has Highest Number of Girl Cadets in NDA

A total of 126 women cadets have joined the National Defence Academy after the government opened the doors of the premier training academy at Khadakwasla for them three years ago, minister of state for defence Sanjay Seth told Rajya Sabha. At 35, Haryana accounts for the maximum number of women who joined NDA, followed by Uttar Pradesh (28) and Rajasthan (13). Adequate facilities are being provided to women cadets at NDA on a par with their male counterparts, and several measures are undertaken pan-India to encourage women to join the army, Seth said.

In August 2021, the Supreme Court directed the government to allow women to take the next entrance exam for the NDA and the first batch was inducted the following year. The armed forces have been inducting women since the early-1990s but their entry was restricted to military academies where cadets are taken after graduation and only as short-service commission officers In the Army, for instance, “lady cadets” have been inducted at the Officers’ Training Academy (OTA) at Chennai for the last 30 years.

Though women now also get permanent commission and can be promoted as commanding officers in the rank of Colonel after Supreme Court’s intervention, they constitute a miniscule minority in the over 14-lakh strong armed forces, numbering just around 3,900 (excluding the medical stream) in the around 70,000-strong officer cadre in the armed forces.

What is NDA

•The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint services academy of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force train together before they go on to respective service academy for further pre-commission training.

•Location: Khadakwasla, Pune, Maharashtra.

•It is the first tri-service academy in the world.

NDA Selection Procedure