Over 200 cadets pass out of Officers Training Academy

Chennai: As many as 181 gentlemen and 49 lady cadets were successfully commissioned into service at the Passing Out Parade at the Officers Training Academy here on Saturday.

The event is normally held in September but was put off to today due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of COVID-19 guidelines to check the virus spread, parents of the cadets were not invited to witness the ceremony.

The organisers had made elaborate arrangements to witness the passing out parade through various social media channels, a press release said.

The parade was reviewed by Lieutenant General RP Singh, General Officer in Commanding-Chief Western Command.

Twenty cadets hailing from Bhutan, Afghanistan (10) and Maldives (2) also successfully completed their training at the academy.

The traditional drill and pipping ceremony marked the commissioning of the cadets on the occasion.

Singh later handed over the sword of honour and the gold medal to Varun Ganapathy, silver medal to Mahadev Singh Rathore and bronze medal to Patil Dhiraj Patangrao.