18 Mohali institutes alumni pass out from NDA sans parade, parents

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 31

The Passing out Parade at the tri-service National Defence Academy (NDA), Kharakvasla on Saturday, saw as many as 18 alumni of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Armed Forces Preparatory Institute (AFPI), Mohali making the final step through its portals before joining their respective service academies for pre-commission training.

They were part of the 138th NDA Course that completed its three-year rigorous training in the journey of a cadet towards becoming an officer. While the passing out parade is a grand affair, with parents and siblings of cadets as well as military and civilian dignitaries invited to the event, this time it was a low-key affair due to prevailing conditions of COVID-19.

Instead of the customary outdoor parade in the revered Khetarpal Drill Square, a solemn ceremony was held in Habibulah Hall, the NDAs main auditorium. 

Only cadets of the passing out course and some members of the faculty attended the event, which was presided over by the Commandant, Lt Gen Asit Mistry.

The passing out parade at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, scheduled to be held next week, will also see a similar setting.

A total of 335 cadets graduated from the NDA which includes 226 Army cadets, 44 Naval cadets and 65 Air Force cadets. 

In addition, there were 20 cadets from friendly foreign countries including Bhutan, Tajikistan, Maldives, Vietnam, Tanzania, Mauritius, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Turkmenistan, Fiji, Uzbekistan, Sudan, Mongolia and Bangladesh.

In the normal course the cadets would have been given some leave on completion of their training to go home, but this year that has not been possible. 

They will be proceeding directly to their respective service academies and will possibly their due leave only when conditions permit. 

The AFPI alumni passing out on May 30 were from the 5th AFPI Course 2016 – 17. 

Several of them held senior appointments in the passing out course including Academy Cadet Adjutant Loveneet Singh, Battalion Cadet Captain Rajdeep Singh and Squadron Cadet Captain Arunav Laroiya. Loveneet Singh was awarded the Commandants Medal for Dedication to Duty and Arunav Laroiya was awarded the Commandants Medal for Exceptional Leadership.

Loveneet’s father, Rupinder Singh, is a farmer who belongs to Jalalabad and Arunav’s father is an assistant general manager (IT) from Patiala. Both of Rajdeep’s parents are teachers, and they belong to village Nangli in Punjab.

The 8th AFPI Course has completed its training in the Institute in April this year and selected candidates were scheduled to join NDA in July, but the commencement of the next NDA course is likely to be delayed as it has not been possible to complete all SSB interviews so far. 

As of now 17 cadets of this course have already qualified to join the next NDA course. 

Currently, the 9th and 10th courses are undergoing training at AFPI. This training is being conducted in the form of online classes for the time being.