The Punjab Governor and Administrator, Union Territory, Chandigarh, Shivraj V. Patil, while interacting with cadets today at Maharaja Ranjit Armed Forces Preparatory Institute Mohali, said that he was happy to meet the cadets who were being trained in the institute. He said the institute appears to be doing well in all respects, especially in imparting required training to selected young men from Punjab for permanent commission in the Armed forces through the National Defence Academy or equivalent service academy.Addressing students, Mr Patil said that there was more pleasure in joining Armed forces and in living an adventurous life. He said that he was of the view that there was no other profession which was equivalent to armed forces.Interacting with Major Gen. B.S. Garewal (Retd.) Director AFPI, Mr. Patil said that the need of the hour was to motivate the rural youth to join Armed Forces. He said that they should be educated regarding life and culture of army and encourage them to join army.
He said motivational teams should be sent to various schools and colleges particularly in rural areas to motivate the youth to join army as officers and after motivation they should be given proper training and coaching so that they should not face any problem at the time of selection.Sharing his concern for the declining number of people joining the Indian Defence Forces, the Governor said that there was a need of generating awareness among our people and to imbibe spirit of patriotism in the blood of our boys and girls for opting these challenging assignments. He said that in difficult times, our Defence Forces always stands like a rock and have never let our country down.Appreciating the role of officers of the institute, the Governor said that defence forces are the best example of national integration. Though they belong to different parts of Country, different religions and different castes, they live together in a harmonious atmosphere with feelings of love and sacrifice which has no equal of its own.
Patil said that the Punjab Government is very positive in extending all possible help for the Institute. He said that Punjab Government had allotted six acres of land for setting up the Mai- Bhago Armed Forces Preparatory Institute for Girls in Mohali to prepare them for entry into armed forces.Prominent amongst others who were present on the occasion included Mr. MP Singh Principal Secretary to Governor, Brig. K.D. Singh, Mr. Puneet Goel, ADC Mohali, Col. H.S. Chauhan, Mr. Inder Mohan Singh, SSP (Mohali), Mr. Raj Bhachan Singh Sandhu, ADC, Mr. Swarandeep Singh, SP and other civil and military officers.