Over 1.77 lakh women candidates apply for entry into National Defence Academy

New Delhi: More than 1.77 lakh applications from women candidates were received for entry into the National Defence Academy (NDA), the government informed Parliament on Monday. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said the total number of applications received was 5,75,856, of which 1,77,654 were from women.

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The Supreme Court, in an order in August, paved the way for the entry of women into the prestigious military training academy that has been a male bastion for recruitment into the three services. The minister said necessary infrastructure and facilities for the training of the women candidates are in place at the academy.

"Medical standards have been notified in the UPSC notification. Physical standards will be finalised before commencement of training," he said. "There were no restrictions on the number of female applicants who could apply for the 2021 National Defence Academy examination," Bhatt added.

To a separate question, he said the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for 11 indigenously-developed systems at a total cost of Rs 24,711 crore has been accorded for induction in the services.

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The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has issued a revised NDA and NA vacancy as per the Supreme Court order to allow women to take admission in the national defense academy (NDA) and naval academy (NA). As per the revised vacancy, a total of 19 vacancies are for women candidates in NDA, whereas there is no vacancy allotted for them in naval academy.