Two Punjab daughters commissioned in Indian Air Force

Chandigarh: Mai Bhago Armed Forces Preparatory Institute (AFPI) for Girls, SAS Nagar (Mohali) added another feather in its cap, as two of its alumni, Haroop Kaur and Nivedita Saini, have been commissioned as Flying Officers in the Indian Air Force after successfully passing out from the Air Force Academy, Dundigal (Hyderabad) on Saturday.

The passing out parade was reviewed by Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari, PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC.

Flying Officer Haroop Kaur, who will be joining the Education Branch, is the daughter of Bhagwant Singh, a Head Constable in Punjab Police, SAS Nagar (Mohali) District, and Flying Officer Nivedita Saini’s father, S. Harinder Singh Saini, is a Principal in a Government School and hails from Pathankot District. Flying Officer Nivedita Saini will be joining the Logistic Branch of the Air Force.

Congratulating both the girls for their noteworthy accomplishment, Punjab Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training Minister Aman Arora said that their success will certainly motivate more daughters of Punjab to explore opportunities for making a career in the defence services.

Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Singh Mann led Punjab Government is fully committed to fulfil the aspirations of the state’s daughters, who want to join defence services as commissioned officers.

Punjab Government has set up an NDA Preparatory Wing for Girls at Mai Bhago AFPI in July 2023. Presently, the second batch is undergoing training, he informed.

Notably, Mai Bhago AFPI, working under the umbrella of Punjab Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training department, has a fully residential campus with state-of-the-art infrastructure and the only one of its kind in the country, he added.

Expressing satisfaction over the two alumni being commissioned as Flying Officers, the Director of Mai Bhago AFPI Major General Jasbir Singh Sandhu, AVSM (Retd.) said that this achievement will further boost the state government’s efforts of sending more girls to the various armed forces pre-commission training academies. He also extended his best wishes to these newly commissioned officers for their bright future ahead in the Indian Air Force.