The National Defence Academy in India celebrates its 75th anniversary this year acknowledging its existence since it was inaugurated on January 16, 1955. The tri-service military training body located in Khadkwasla, Pune marked its Diamond jubilee in 2024 with a set of activities highlighting the works of the NDA and providing tribute to the sacrifices of its alumni. The year-long commemorative activities that commenced on January 19 last year came to an end on NDA Day 2024, i.e. Tuesday, January 16, 2024.
About NDA, the iconic Military Academy of India
The National Defence Academy is an institution that guides and trains military aspirants to achieve and succeed in their dreams of serving the nation. It is a premier joint training institute that offers a course running three years long which equips the cadets with the mental, moral and physical attributes required to cope with the challenges on the future battlefield and emerge victorious.
Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar, Commandant of the NDA says in his message, "Over the years NDA is attracting the best of youth from our nation and also from friendly foreign countries and transforming them into officers and gentlemen. Their achievements are all-pervading and showcased in every echelon of our Armed Forces and also in the civil society. The ‘Cradle’ has indeed rocked the nascent youth and groomed them into ‘Leaders’ who have lived up to its ethos: ‘सेवा परमो धर्म:’ (Service Before Self)."
NDA History & Significance
How did the NDA come into existence? It is noted that the novel concept of forming a joint training institute came in the 1940s amidst the Second World War. As per the official website of NDA, a Committee was formed on May 1945 under the Chairmanship of the Commander-in-Chief, India, Field Marshal Sir Claude J Auchinleck to examine the feasibility of forming an institution with excellent facilities for training the officers of the Armed Forces jointly.
Later, as India became an independent nation, the blueprint of the unique Academy envisaged by Auchinleck remained in cold storage for about eight months, followed by the first Indian Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru laying the foundation stone on Oct 6, 1949, on an action plan to commission a permanent war academy at Khadakwasla, Pune.
The service training at the NDA is focused on the Army, Navy, and Air Force and provides the highest standards of military training keeping in view the requirements of modern-day warfare.
