B Tech option for air force cadets

PUNE: Having earlier announced a B.Tech course for its naval cadets from July this year, the National Defence Academy (NDA) at Khadakwasla will extend the engineering degree course to its air force cadets from January 2017.
Engineering cadets, who complete a three-year academic and military training at the NDA, will get their degrees one more year later following their finishing school training at the respective officers' academy.This is to meet the four-year study requirement of an engineering degree course as laid by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). The B.Tech degree will be awarded by the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
NDA is a unique triservices academy where the cadets undergo a three-year training before proceeding to the finishing schools for army, navy and air force for another one-year training and eventual commissioning as officers in the Indian armed forces.
An NDA officer said, "The academy is starting with the naval cadets from July this year as the Indian Navy had raised a requirement for engineering graduates on priority. The Indian Air Force too has now raised a similar requirement and the B.Tech course, in all likelihood, will be introduced for the air force cadets from the term starting January 2017."
Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar, Commandant, NDA, said at the convocation ceremony of the 130th course on Monday, "Both, AICTE and JNU, have given their approvals to the four-year B.Tech course for NDA cadets. The introduction of an engineering course as a fourth stream is an initiative that will stand our future officers in good stead to take on the challenges to our national security." He said, "The curriculum at NDA is periodically reviewed for relevance involving national and global scenarios and necessary corrections are applied. Gone are the days when sheer brute power could win us wars. Today's warfare is technology driven and hence the importance attached to the academic curriculum at the NDA."
A high-powered committee had recommended in 1973 an upgraded degree level syllabus for NDA cadets and the same set off a long relationship between the NDA and the JNU. For a decade now, the NDA was working on ways to introduce engineering and even tried earlier to do it in association with the Savitribai Phule Pune University. The move could not come through and the academy decided to go ahead with JNU.
Chairman of AICTE Anil Sahasrabudhe was the chief guest at the convocation ceremony. In his capacity as the then Director of the College of Engineering Pune, he was part of AICTE's committee that evaluated the possibility of B.Tech course for NDA cadets, six years ago.
He emphasized the role of armed forces in the constantly changing situation of internal challenges and external threats and the need for armed forces officers to be adequately equipped with technological know-how.
The B.Tech course was a way of addressing this requirement, he said.
"There is no alternative to ensuring high quality education for the country to secure the demographic dividends of a young population of 65% below age 35 years and 50% below age 25 years. The world saw a great recession during the last one decade. While all economies in the world are limping, the Indian economy is growing steadfast at 7.5% growth rate. India is fast emerging as a global superpower and its young population will provide the demographic dividend," he added.
Principal of NDA O P Shukla said, "The B.Tech initiative has paved the way for a much-needed enhancement of academic qualification of NDA cadets and will ensure a paradigm shift in the training of scholar warriors at the academy."
Shukla said, "The initiative goes along with other steps like signing of an MoU with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT), Pune, for knowledge enhancement and access to knowledge resources. Similarly, establishment of a campus area network, smart boards and leveraging National Knowledge Network benefits through optimum use of the National Programme for Technology Enabled Learning (NPTEL) and video-conferencing technology," he said.
Senior officers including Air Marshal A S Bhosale and deputy commandant of NDA Air Vice Marshal S P Wagle, senior instructors and faculty members were present.