Uttarakhand is popularly also referred to as the land of the brave soldiers and this will be reflected again during the Passing out Parade (PoP) at Indian Military Academy (IMA) on Saturday.Twenty nine youngmen from this small predominantly mountainous State would becomeofficersin the IndianArmyafter the PoP of the autumn term-2022 on Saturday.A total of 314 Gentlemen Cadets (GCs) would become proudofficersof the Indianarmyon Saturday when they step on the Antim Pag (last step) of the academy after the PoP.
Uttar Pradesh with 51 GCs leads the table of State-wise representation of GCs while Haryana is at second position with a passing out contingent of 30 GCs. Uttarakhandis at third place with a contingent of 29 GCs in the parade.
Bihar with 24 and Maharashtra and Punjab with 21 GCs each are other big contributors in the list. Himachal Pradesh would have 17 GCs in the passing out parade. The largest State in terms of area, Rajasthan would contribute 16 and the second largest state Madhya Pradesh would provide 15 GCs in the passing out contingent ofofficers.
Another big state Andhra Pradesh will have only four GCs in the PoP while Nadu would be represented by seven GCs in the passing out contingent.The State of Gujarat where serving in the armed forces is not considered a popular choice will have five GCs passing out with this course.The States of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand which were created along with Uttarakhandin the year 2000 would have less representation with only four and two GCs respectively. Incidentally both these States are much bigger in area and Population compared to Uttarakhand.
The IMA would also be sending a batch of 30 Foreign Gentlemen Cadets (FGCs) from 11 friendly foreign countries to become officers in their respective countries after the end of training.