CHANDIGARH: In a landmark moment for Punjab’s military legacy, four cadets—two lady cadets from the Mai Bhago Armed Forces Preparatory Institute for Girls and two from the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Armed Forces Preparatory Institute (MRSAFPI)—were commissioned as Lieutenants in the Indian Army on Saturday.
The commissioning took place at the Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai during a spectacular passing out parade reviewed by Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Krishna Swaminathan, PVSM, AVSM & VSM.
Lady Cadet Deepnoor has been commissioned into the elite Army Aviation Corps, while Lady Cadet Diksha Dhiman joins the Army Ordnance Corps. Deepnoor is the daughter of S. Sukhbir Singh, Professor at Sardar Beant Singh State University, Gurdaspur and Smt. Ramanpreet Kaur, a Government School Teacher. Diksha is the daughter of Pawan Kumar, a businessman from Pathankot and Smt. Indu.
The MRSAFPI duo also made the state proud with Cadet Ishpreet Singh Dhillon, son of late Dr. Paramjit Singh Dhillon and Smt. Santosh Kaur, joining the Regiment of Artillery, and Lieutenant Arsh Singh, son of Maj Gen P.S. Sandhu (Retd), carrying forward his family’s legacy as a second-generation officer into the Judge Advocate General (JAG) Branch.
Congratulating the newly commissioned officers, Punjab Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training Minister Mr. Aman Arora said, “These young officers will inspire thousands of youth across Punjab to serve the nation. Under Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s leadership, the state government is fully committed to handholding and supporting every youth aspiring to join the Armed Forces as a commissioned officer.”
Expressing delight over the achievement, Maj Gen Jasbir Singh Sandhu, AVSM (Retd), Director, Mai Bhago AFPI, said, “This milestone will further energise our mission at Mai Bhago AFPI to prepare more daughters of Punjab for commissioning as officers in the Armed Forces.” He extended warm wishes to the newly commissioned officers.
Maj Gen Ajay H. Chauhan, VSM (Retd), Director, MRSAFPI, exhorted the new officers to uphold the nation’s ideals and make their alma mater proud. He added that 15 more cadets of MRSAFPI have cleared SSB and are awaiting joining letters for the December 2026 course.
