Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The first batch of women cadets joining the National Defence Academy (NDA) will be housed together with male cadets. They will be sharing the premises of the squadrons with the male cadets.“The fresh batch of cadets, including the 19 women, will join the NDA in June,” an officer said. This includes 10 cadets in the Army, six in the Air Force and three in the Navy. Explaining the reason behind the decision, another officer said, “Had the women been housed in separate squadrons it would have defeated the purpose of joint training.”
Women were allowed in the NDA after SC’s intervention. “Initially, the women cadets will be housed in buddy pairs, and the same number of cadets will join further,” said the officer.The NDA is a training institution where the cadets opt for permanent Commission into the Army, Air Force and Navy. The academic calendar is divided into six terms and a group of 120-140 cadets lives together in a block, which is called squadron.There are a total of 18 squadrons, with 20-30 cadets from each term staying together. All the competitions and joint training are organised among these squadrons.
The women cadets passing out of the NDA will be granted permanent commission from their service academies. The Air Force has opened all the streams, including the fighter pilot, for women. In the Army, women join in the support arms and services, since Infantry, Armored and Artillery are not open for them yet. In the Navy, they will be commissioned into all streams except submarine and warships.
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