Meet Shanan Dhaka, the 19-yr-old who topped the 1st women’s batch for NDA exams

In 2021, the National Defence Academy (NDA) announced that it will be ready to welcome its first-ever batch of women cadets in 2023. The candidates will be selected after they sit for the entrance exam in 2023. It seems life is about to change for this 19-year-old Shanan Dhaka from Rohtak district in Haryana who topped the entrance exam for NDA's first women's batch.

Shanan believes that working in the Army is not a job but a service to the nation. Talking to media persons, she said that once during an NDA mock test at school, the girls wanted to sit but were not permitted and only boys were allowed. She said after topping the exams, recalling that moment felt good.

The teen admitted that it was an instantaneous decision for her. In an interview to The Indian Express, the youth said that she took inspiration from her grandfather Chanderbhan Dhaka who was a subedar and her father Vijay Kumar Dhaka who retired as a Naib Subedar from the Army Service Corps.





“Growing up in cantonment areas, I saw the respect being accorded to Army officers. Plus the trust everybody has in Army personnel motivated me to join the service. It’s an opportunity to serve the nation with unparalleled pride and honour,” Shanan was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

Dhaka studied in Army Public Schools at Roorkee, Panchkula, and Jaipur. The youth said that she came across the opportunity at NDA when she got herself enrolled at Lady Shri Ram College for Women in Delhi last year. Immediately after knowing about NDA, Shanan decided to apply.

The resident of Zirakpur in Punjab said that she studied for five hours every day for 40 days and worked on papers from the previous years. “I look at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam as an inspiration, because he was somebody who started from scratch and became the President of India,” said Shanan.

According to the government, 1,77, 654 women appeared for the competitive exam which was held in November last year.