MOHALI: Of the 33 cadets from Punjab who passed out of the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, on Saturday, as many as 15 cadets, were trained in the Mohali-based Maharaja Ranjit Singh Armed Forces Preparatory Institute (AFPI).
HT PHOTO■ Cadets trained at the Mohali-based Maharaja Ranjit Singh Armed Forces Preparatory Institute after the passing out parade at the IMA, Dehradun, on Saturday.
THESE CADETS HAD UNDERGONE TWO-YEAR TRAINING AT THE AFPI, FOLLOWED BY THREE YEARS AT THE NDA AND A YEAR AT THE IMA
This is one of the highest number of cadets from any feeder institute in the country getting commissioned in the Indian Army at the same time.
These cadets had undergone two-year training at AFPI from 2013 to 2015, followed by three years at the National Defence Academy and finally a year at the IMA.
Of the 15 young officers, two have joined the Armoured Corps, one mechanised infantry, four infantry, four artillery, two signals and two to army ordnance corps.
The senior-most among the AFPI cadets was Battalion Under Officer Harshdeep Singh Sohi who has been commissioned into the mechanised infantry.
AFPI director Major General BS Grewal said, “Punjab was once known as the Sword Arm of India but over the years, its contribution to the armed forces decreased. But now, we are sending about 25-30 boys to NDA from AFPI which shows that the contribution has increased substantially.”
With this, the total number of commissioned officers from the first three AFPI courses has reached 50. Another five cadets undergoing training at Air Force Academy are expected to be commissioned in the Indian Air Force on June 15.
So far, six AFPI courses have already contributed 119 cadets to various service academies. On three occasions in the past, cadets of this institute have stood first in the All India Merit List for NDA / OTA.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh Armed Forces Preparatory Institute was set up by the government of Punjab in 2011 for training boys for joining the armed forces as commissioned officers through the NDA / other service academies. Prior to 2011, the entire state of Punjab was sending six to eight boys to NDA for each course. This figure has now changed for the better with AFPI alone sending 25 to 30 boys to NDA / other service academies per year.