This Mohali Institute Trains Girls Free Of Cost To Join Armed Forces; Know More

Punjab government's Mai Bhago Armed Forces Preparatory Institute is a one-of-its-kind institute that has rightly identified girl students' capacities and trained them to join the Indian Army. The armed forces were essentially seen as a domain or the preserve of men, but with changing times, women began stepping up to the roles, and today they are being deployed even within commander ranks.

Many institutions and efforts went into bringing about this much-needed change. Among the contributors to this are the girls-exclusive training centres such as Mai Bhago Armed Forces Preparatory Institute. It emerged as a ray of hope for many girls in Punjab from non-army and ordinary backgrounds who would otherwise have settled into humbling circumstances.

Setting The Space For Equality In The Forces

The seven-year-old institute in Mohali, set up on the lines of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Armed Forces Preparatory Institute for boys, enables many girls in the state to envision a career for themselves in the armed forces. Annually more than 1,200 girls appear for the entrance examination for the three-year preparatory course, and out of the competition, only 25 girls get selected. The girls enrolled in the institute are Punjab residents, most of whom come from ordinary and rural backgrounds.

The institute ensures they provide the right platform and opportunity for the girls to compete at the national level and march into the defence forces as commissioned officers. The first batch of the institute passed in 2018, and so far, 23 alumni have gotten into the defence academies. According to the director of the institute, Major General JS Sandhu, some of the girls went on to become respected officers, while many others have passed written exams, the medical, the Services Selection Board (SSB) and were recommended for commission.

In the past month, two alumni were commissioned as officers in the Indian Air Force - one as a transport pilot and the other as a navigator. Speaking about one of the alums who received the opportunity, Sandhu said that she is the daughter of a policeman who struggled and surpassed several challenges to be selected among the 19 women who appeared for the examinations from pan India.

Training To Don The Olive Uniform

Girl students undergo tough competition to enrol in the institute with a multi-layered selection process and thousands of candidates appearing for the exams. The selection process runs the candidate through a written test, an interview, specific psychometric tests, and a medical to ensure they are fit as per armed forces parameters. The selected 25 are then provided training free of cost. Sandhu noted that such tough competition is necessary as "the challenges for the girls to get into the armed forces is very, very high in terms of vacancies." It was only a year ago that the Indian government opened the National Defence Academy to girls, with about 19 seats reserved for women out of an overall 400 vacancies. So, for every 25-30 boys enrolled in the forces, one girl might find admission.

To help the girls address the challenges accordingly, the institute serves a great purpose in training them for a period of three years. They train, groom, and develop the student's personality to help them feel confident about cracking the exam, including the competitive SSB. A report covered by the New Indian Express quoted multiple students who ambitiously train and hold on to their aspiration to go into combat roles. Mansi from Nakodar is one such student from the senior batch whose passion right from childhood was to serve in the Army. She has always been good in sports and games at her school, but having come from a non-Army background, she knew she had to step up even more from there.

Similarly, Akanksha from Dhariwal is also a part of the senior batch and comes from a non-army background. Her father wanted to join the armed forces, but for some reason, he couldn't. Following the path that he had to leave behind, Akanksha's motivation is to join the armed forces and serve the nation. Yet another student, Charanpreet Kaur, is a daughter of a driver who comes from a small village near Kurali. She has been fascinated with the olive uniform since childhood and has worked toward this dream of someday becoming an Air Force officer.

The institute, named after Mata Bhag Kaur (a "Saint warrior" who bravely led 40 Sikh warriors against the Mughals in the famous 1705 Battle of Muktsar), nurtures the land for many such dreams. The Mohali institute has also entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with MCM DAV College for Women, through which girls enrolled in the college can simultaneously train at the institute.

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