The National Defence Academy (NDA), the country’s premier institution that imparts training to cadets who later join the Armed Forces, has designed modules to teach those from small towns and rural areas soft skills. The focus is on teaching them better communication, dancing and table manners. This to bridge the gap between them and cadets from urban areas.

The NDA, in the past few years, has been getting more and more cadets from rural areas. Top officials said programmes like mental prowess, spoken English and other soft skills, where these cadets lag behind their urban counterparts, have been designed.

“The cadets from rural areas are as good as the rest. Only, as officers of the Armed Forces, they will have to be responsible, well-mannered citizens who are the ambassadors of their country. It is imperative that they learn table manners, dress sense and even learn how to dance,” said NDA Commandant Air Marshall T S Randhawa.

He said the NDA continued to get cadets from the cities, though their numbers had shrunk. “Urban students have many avenues today — management, media, IT and ITES, unlike those from small towns and rural India,” he added.

Moreover, cadets who join the NDA come from a defence background, unlike before. “They need not necessarily be an officer’s son.Some cadets joining the NDA have their fathers working as jawans. However, the quality of students we are getting is excellent and there has been no dilution,” Air Marshall Randhawa said.

While NDA deputy commandant Rear Admiral C S Patham’s wife teaches cadets dancing, a language lab has been set up to enhance fluency in English where cadets are put through rigorous training to upgrade their diction, accent and pronunciation. The results, officials said, were encouraging.

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