With 26 cadets, Mohali institute sends its largest-ever batch to National Defence Academy

As many as 26 cadets of the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Armed Forces Preparatory Institute (AFPI), Mohali, have made it to the all-India merit list for entry into the National Defence Academy (NDA), Kharakvasla.

The AFPI Director, Major General Ajay H. Chauhan (retd), said this is the highest number of cadets from the institute to get selected for joining the NDA in the same batch. To date, a total of 255 cadets of this institute have joined various service training academies since the first cadets passed out of the institute in 2013, and 170 alumni of the institute have so far been commissioned as officers in the defence services.

They will be joining NDA’s 154^th Course that is scheduled to begin in June 2025, for which call letters are in the process of being issued. Cadet Aryan Sofeth from Patiala has secured the 9^th rank in the merit list, while 10 other cadets have secured positions among the top 100.

Out of the 34 AFPI cadets that appeared for interview before the Services Selection Board for the 154^th Course after passing in the written entrance exam, 26 were declared successful. All the cadets are from 12^th Course of the AFPI.

Congratulating the cadets, Punjab Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training Minister, Aman Arora said these cadets are the pride of Punjab. He also felicitated AFPI alumni Gunjot Singh and Aryan Dutt on their selection for the Officer Training Academy (OTA), Chennai, for the Short Service Commission’s 64^th (Technical) Course.

Gunjot hails from Patiala district and his father works at Thapar University, while Cadet Aryan belongs to Mohali district and his father retired as a Commander in the Indian Navy.

The AFPI, which began functioning in 2011, was set up by the Punjab Government to stem the declining trend of youth from the state joining the armed forces as officers. It offers a two-year residential programme for matriculate boys under which they complete their 10 2 and alongside prepare to join the NDA through a structured training process.

Later, a similar institute, called the Mai Bhago Armed Forces Preparatory Institute, was also set up in Mohali to prepare girls aspiring to become defence officers. This institute initially offered a three-year programme along with graduation aimed at the Short-Service Commission, but with the NDA opening its doors to girls, a two-year programme for women, similar to that of the AFPI, was also introduced recently.