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Updated: Sep 26, 2019 22:19 IST

Sainik School, Sujanpur Tira, Himachal Pradesh, has lifted the Raksha Mantri Trophy for the second time in a row for sending the maximum number of cadets to the National Defence Academy (NDA) in 2018-2019.

As many as 14 cadets of the prestigious school were selected for the NDA at Khadakwasla, Pune.

Union minister of state for defence, Shripad Naik handed over the Raksha Mantri Trophy to Group Captain AK Paul, principal, during a function held at Sainik School, Chittorgarh.

A total of 31 Sainik Schools compete for the coveted trophy every year.

Ecstatic about the school’s win, the principal said, “The school has a strength of 69 cadets in Class 12 which means every fifth cadet has joined the NDA. This is indeed a proud moment for the school and the state.”

“The credit goes to all the officers, teachers, non-teaching staff and students,” he added.

The school had lifted the trophy in 1994 and 1998 in the past.

The only institute of its kind in Himachal Pradesh, the school is located on the banks of Beas River at the western end of the sprawling Chaugan (term used in Himachal for plains) while the mighty Dhalaudhar mountains and Bardari hills form its unique backdrop.

In 1974, the then prime minister Indira Gandhi had laid the foundation stone of the school which was inaugurated on November 2, 1978, with Wing commander HS Mehta as its founder principal.

Over the years, nearly 500 cadets from the school have joined the NDA; the Officers Training Academy (OTA), Chennai; the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun; Air Force Academy (AFA) Hyderabad, and the Indian Naval Academy (INA), Ezhimala in Kerala.

Among its prominent alumni is Major Sudhir Kumar Walia, who was awarded the Ashok Chakra, the highest peacetime military decoration, posthumously for his bravery in a gunfight with militants in Kupwara in August 1999, while leading an assault in Haprudha forests. Forty-two alumni have won awards for distinguished services to date.

Selected cadets

Shashwat Nanda

Anurag Kanav

Parvarish Dev Nanta

Naman Mehta

Nikhilesh Rawat

Aman Kumar Devanshu

Anurag Yadav

Ojaus Sanghel

Pradyuman Sharma

Mridul Manhas

Akshit Sehgal

Arindam Sood

Tushar Thakur

Govind Pathania