'Can't get married': Major Rishabh Sambyal, former ADC to President, reveals challenges and sacrifices of 3-year tenure

Serving as an Aide-de-Camp to the President comes with responsibilities that extend far beyond protocol, security and official appearances. Major Rishabh Singh Sambyal, who served as former President Droupadi Murmu’s ADC for around three years, has spoken about the personal cost of the demanding assignment, including being unable to live a normal personal life or get married while holding the post.

Speaking to Raj Shamani on his podcast, Sambyal described the role, presidential security and the discipline required of an ADC, but also offered a glimpse into what he gave up during his tenure.

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‘I couldn’t go out as a normal human being’

Sambyal said serving as the President’s ADC meant sacrificing ordinary experiences that most people take for granted.

“While I was serving with the president, I couldn’t go out as a normal human being and enjoy life,” he said.

The former Special Forces officer described the experience as a trade-off that came with holding a prestigious and demanding position. After years in the military and roughly three years as President Murmu’s ADC, Sambyal eventually chose to leave the armed forces rather than continue indefinitely at the expense of his personal life.

He has previously spoken about taking months to make the decision, describing it as one of the hardest choices of his life.

Why Sambyal could not get married

Sambyal then revealed what he considered the biggest sacrifice of serving as the President’s ADC: being unable to marry during his tenure.

“I’m not married. So there’s a clause for the ADCs [to the President] that they can’t get married,” he said.

Explaining the impact of the restriction, he added, “I have to stay away from the family, and I think this is the biggest sacrifice.”

“So you don’t have life outside. That’s the cost I’ve paid,” Sambyal said.

His comments highlight how the demands of the assignment can extend beyond long working hours or strict professional discipline, affecting an officer’s relationships, family life and ability to maintain a conventional personal routine.

The job demanded constant alertness

For the public, an ADC is often seen as the uniformed officer accompanying a VVIP. Sambyal explained that the position involves much more, including coordinating requirements, managing protocol and anticipating the President’s needs during official engagements.

He described the role simply as “Everything”. If President Murmu wanted to speak to the Prime Minister, for example, the ADC would coordinate with the relevant people to facilitate the conversation. He said one of the most difficult aspects was bringing everyone together, describing it as “the difficult part is liasoning people.”

The position also requires extraordinary observation skills. Sambyal said presidential security involves multiple layers of preparation and that, in his knowledge, an area extending roughly 1 km around the President is sanitised during certain movements, with weapons, metal objects and other potential threats kept away.

His training included exercises involving severe deprivation of food, water and sleep, followed by observation tests. Objects were deliberately placed along a route, after which officers were asked what they had noticed.

The training reinforced a central requirement of the job: an ADC must notice details that others may overlook.

The sacrifice also created a bond with Murmu

Interestingly, the same assignment that left Sambyal with little room for an ordinary personal life also gave him a relationship he remembers warmly.

He recalled meeting President Murmu for the first time and feeling that “my mother is standing in front of me”. Sambyal said he had not lived with his own mother since 2014 because of his military career, usually returning home only briefly before leaving again for months.

His roughly three years with Murmu were different. He described her nature as “very homely” and said the warmth she showed him and the other ADCs reminded him of his mother and made him miss her.

Behind the formal photographs, protocol and security responsibilities, Sambyal said the assignment therefore involved a deeply personal trade-off: giving up aspects of an ordinary life while forming a bond he continues to remember with affection.