126 women cadets joined NDA since 2022, only 5 quit: Defence Ministry
At 35, Haryana accounts for the maximum number of women who joined the National Defence Academy (NDA), followed by Uttar Pradesh (28) and Rajasthan (13)
NEW DELHI: A total of 126 women cadets have joined the National Defence Academy (NDA) 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 on Monday.
Data furnished in the Upper House showed that only five of the women cadets resigned.
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 Apex court’s order making women eligible to join NDA came almost three decades after women were allowed to serve in select branches of the three services as short-service commission (SSC) officers, and 18 months after the top court ruled that women officers, who have joined the Indian Army through SSC, were entitled to permanent commission and command roles.
Students become eligible to take the NDA and Naval Academy Examination, conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), while they are in the 12th standard.
Those who clear the entrance exam must face the Services Selection Board (a rigourous personality and intelligence test spread over five days) and the candidates accepted by the SSB undergo a medical examination before the UPSC releases the final merit list. After training at the NDA for three years, split into six terms, cadets head for further training at different academies depending on their choice of service before getting commissioned as officers.
