Monday, 14 March 2022 | PNS | Dehradun
The Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) in Dehradun turned 100 years old on Sunday. RIMC which was earlier known as the Royal Indian Military College is the first military training institution of the Indian sub-continent which was established on March 13, 1922 by the Prince of Wales to educate and train Indian youth as part of the Indianisation of the officer cadre of the British Indian Army. The institute is presently a premier feeder institute for the prestigious National Defence Academy and Naval Academy, Ezhimala.Speaking as the chief guest on the occasion, the Uttarakhand Governor, Lieutenant General (retd) Gurmit Singh congratulated the institute for successful and courageous 100 years. He said that RIMC is an institute to inculcate, train and nurture cadets into capable and effective leaders of tomorrow. “It is the premier feeder institute for training cadets. The RIMC alumni have been serving at several prestigious positions in the armed forces. This institution has given six Service Chiefs — General KS Thimayya, General GG Bewoor, General VN Sharma, Air Chief Marshal NC Suri, General S Padmanabhan and Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa besides 41 Army Commanders and equivalent, and 163 personnel of the rank of Lieutenant General to the country. It has also given Pakistan one commander in chief of the army and two chiefs of the air staff — General Gul Hassan Khan, Air Marshal Asghar Khan and Air Marshal Nur Khan. One cannot forget the contribution of RIMC alumni in several major operations of the country including the Balakot operation. The institute is also praiseworthy for how it diligently coped with the Covid-19 pandemic in the past two years. I congratulate all the cadets for their achievements during this period,” he said. Cultural programmes displaying different art forms from across the country were also performed at the event. The governor also launched the books- Bal Vivek which is authored by the cadets about their experiences of growing up at the RIMC and Valour and Wisdom authored by the institute’s alumni Sidharth Mishra. He also released a commemorative postal stamp and first-day cover during the centenary celebrations.
