NDA Gearing Up To Admit First Batch Of 19 Girl Cadets

National Defence Academy is gearing up to train its first batch of girl cadets from June 2022, the academy said on March 22. The first course will admit 19 girl cadets—10 for Army, six for Air Force and three for Navy. They will begin three years of training at the academy which they said will be ‘gender-neutral’.

In a press statement from the academy, they stated that akin to their male compartments, girls of the age group 16 years six months to 19 years will undergo military training after they clear the UPSC NDA written examination, Services Selection Board interviews and medicals.

In the press release, the NDA mentioned that the training will continue in a gender-neutral fashion with minimum changes to the current curriculum. “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 release stated.

Suggested Reading: As Rafale Fleet Gets Its First Woman Fighter Pilot, A Look At Women in Indian Armed Forces

The NDA has said that dedicated support staff will be provided for facilitating the training of the cadets. The majority of training activities shall be conducted jointly, though. Similar training methodology is already being used in other training institutions in Chennai, Ezhimala and Hyderabad officials were quoted saying.

The academy in their statement mentioned that one of the squadrons is being refurbished for their stay and will have specific amenities for the girl cadets’ training and that they have envisioned an exclusive squadron for girl cadets.

The Supreme Court of India had ruled in August 2021 that the NDA should prepare a directive about the eligibility of women to appear for the entrance exam after the Union government told that the NDA wants to induct women in the academy. The Apex Court had however said that admission of women will be subject to a final ruling on the petition. Post that President Ram Nath Kovind while addressing the budget session in Parliament has announced that the first batch of women cadets would enter the academy in June 2022.

In March 2022, the Union government had told Supreme Court that inducting female cadets in NDA has been a major policy decision and that it needs at least three months for deliberating long-term implications of induction and deployment of ex-NDA women cadets in the Indian Armed Forces when they were questioned about the low number of cadets being inducted for the second consecutive year.