Dehradun: In a first, the Passing Out Parade (POP) at the Indian Military Academy (IMA) on Saturday was broadcasted live across the country on the Indian Army's Youtube channel. The POP for 2020 batch is held amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Wearing a face mask, Army chief General MM Naravane reviewed the Passing Out Parade of 423 officers at IMA. The officers were also seen donning face masks at the parade.
A total of 333 officers are expected to join the Indian Army today after the passing out parade at the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in Dehradun. 423 officers have taken part in the parade including 90 Gentleman Cadets from nine friendly foreign countries.
Even though several public events and celebrations will be missing this time around due to COVID-19, the traditional passing out parade is expected to showcase 'josh', jubilation and discipline of Gentlemen Cadets (GCs).
What makes the passing out parade so special? It symbolises the culmination of rigorous training and transformation of a gentleman cadet into a young officer.
Every six months, the IMA organises a passing out parade for its cadets who join different arms and services of the Indian Army while the foreign cadets go onto join the armies in their respective countries.
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But, for the first time in the history of IMA, parents of the cadets have not been invited for the POP. Moreover, because of the increasing threat of the coronavirus, the cadets were prohibited from touching the swords and medals.
The spectator's gallery remained empty as the nation witnessed young cadets crossing the threshold of the Chatwood Building through the live telecast. Due to the on-going pandemic, the cadets would also not get an opportunity to go on leave before joining their respective units.
The custom of doing push-ups after the piping ceremony at the passing out parade, to cheer other fellow cadets was also avoided to maintain social distancing in the wake of the coronavirus scare.
So far, IMA has trained 62,139 national and foreign officers, including 2,413 officers from the Commonwealth countries.(With inputs from ANI)
