City girl off to National Defence Academy

Ahmedabad: Aastha Laheru, a first year BTech student from Ahmedabad has been selected to go to the prestigious National Defence Academy (NDA) at Khadakwasla near Pune, India’s premier military education academy. Aastha is one of the 19 girls from across the country and perhaps the first from Gujarat to have been selected for the NDA, as this is only the third batch where girls are being admitted into this joint defence service training institute.
“I am very happy and it is a satisfying achievement. I am looking forward to my stint at the National Defence Academy,” said 19-year-old Aastha, who has to report to the academy on November 22. She had been dreaming of a professional career in the armed forces since she was in Class 8. “A television programme on the Indian Naval Academy (INA) had captivated me and it was then that I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in the armed forces,” Aastha said.
On Monday, Aastha was also felicitated by Major General Arvind Kapoor, ADG, Gujarat, of the National Cadet Corps. She has been a cadet of NCC Gujarat for the past year.
Her father, Deven Laheru, the CEO of a software firm, is elated. “We are so glad Aastha made it to the National Defence Academy. It is a matter of pride for all of us. The SSB selection procedure is the ultimate test of physical and mental toughness of candidates,” Laheru said.
Over 7 lakh NDA aspirants took the written examination conducted by the UPSC in September 2022, of which only 9,000 were shortlisted for services selection board (SSB) interviews. This year, 400 candidates – 381 boys and 19 girls – were selected for the NDA. Aastha stood ninth among the 19 girls.