The day starts at 5 am at this sprawling campus in SAS Nagar, Mohali, with physical training. School or college follows, then drill, coaching and preparation for written examinations. By 8.30 pm, when most teenagers would be winding down for the day, these girls are back in their rooms with their books, studying until 11 pm. Mobile phones are switched off after 10 pm.Of the candidates across the country who cleared the all-India National Defence Academy (NDA) written entrance test last month, 17 belonged to the Mai Bhago Armed Forces Preparatory Institute for Girls, Mohali. It was its largest successful batch for the competition, four years after the NDA opened its door to girls. As per the institute, it also comprised the largest batch of girls clearing the NDA exam from any government establishment in the country, including Sainik Schools and Rashtriya Military Schools.Named after the legendary Sikh warrior Mai Bhago or Mata Bhag Kaur, who fought the Mughals, the institute was set up by the Punjab government in 2015, to prepare youth of the state for commissioning into the Armed Forces amid concerns over their “falling” numbers in the defence services. After the NDA started admitting girls, the institute started an NDA Preparatory Wing in 2023. It currently has 115 ‘Lady Cadets’ in total – 40 in the NDA Wing and 75 in the ‘Graduate Wing’, for commissioning into the Armed Forces.Also Read | As women get command roles in Indian Army, here’s what girls preparing for NDA face back home in villagesKhushi, 17, from Beas in Majha, is among the 17 successful candidates. Her father Vijay Kumar works as a gardener at a military station in Pathankot and took the help of Army officers to get her admitted to Army Public School.Growing up around military personnel, she always hoped to join the Army, Khushi says. She learnt about the Mai Bhago institute through social media, and managed to pass the stringent test for admission, including a written exam and interview.Busy preparing now for the SSB (Services Selection Board) assessment, which determines whether a candidate has the qualities required to become a defence officer, she says: “I hope my dream will be realised… The institute provides us wings.”Story continues below this adFor Jasmeet Kaur, 17, from Mukerian in Hoshiarpur, the disciplined routine at the institute was initially difficult. Now, it feels natural. “We are allowed mobile phones and can talk to our parents, but not after 10 pm,” she says.The other students include Japneet Kaur, 18, whose father runs a shop in Behrampur village of Gurdaspur district, and whose initial ambition of joining the Indian Air Force faced the height hurdle; and Sehajpreet Kaur, 17, the daughter of a farmer from Chhohal village in Gurdaspur.Also Read | Cadet from Punjab’s Mai Bhago prep school secures AIR 1 in Air Force Academy merit listWhile the girls hoping to be commissioned into the Armed Forces directly do graduation from the Mai Bhago institute’s partner MCM DAV College for Women, Chandigarh, the NDA aspirants are finishing schooling from Doon International School, Mohali.Sehajpreet, for example, is doing BSc (Non-Medical) at MCM College. She has her parents’ full backing for joining the Army, she says. “My father and my mother, a schoolteacher, are on the same page.”Story continues below this adMaj Gen Jasbir Singh Sandhu (retd), the Director of the Mai Bhago institute, says it is the first such state government establishment for helping girls join the Armed Forces. He also credits the Punjab government with moving quickly to set up the NDA Preparatory Wing after the decision to take in girls in 2022. Currently, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is the Chairman of the institute and Education and Skill Development Minister Aman Arora the Vice-Chairman.“The success in this year’s NDA written examination is an endorsement of the state government’s decision,” Maj Gen Sandhu says.Also Read | 17 women from Punjab government-run coaching centre clear NDA examArora calls this year’s result “a historic achievement”. “Our daughters shattered the glass ceiling. This was a proud moment that validates CM Mann’s visionary decision to start the NDA wing.”While the boarding, lodging, uniforms and training of the students are funded entirely by the state government, the students have to pay for their respective school and college education. The Mohali school that has an MoU with the Mai Bhago institute charges half its regular annual fees of Rs 1.2 lakh for the NDA aspirants, who must pursue maths along with science, while the college fees is Rs 30,000 to Rs 32,000 a year.Story continues below this adMaj Gen Sandhu says their admission process is “very intense”, and “we want to ensure that the girls finish their education along with their preparation for the armed forces”. The institute picks 20 girls for its NDA Wing, and 25 for its Graduate Wing. While Graduate Wing cadets are entitled to single rooms with attached bathrooms, NDA Wing cadets are two to a room, with attached bathrooms.After classes at the school or college, the cadets return to the Mai Bhago institute campus and get some rest before drills start at 5 pm. Classes for competitive examinations are held twice a week. Staff keep a check that they are studying during the 8.30 pm to 11 pm window.Also Read | 4 female cadets from Punjab’s Mai Bhago preparatory institute selected to defence academiesMaj Gen Sandhu says the physical training is benchmarked to “NDA first-term standards”, with an indoor shooting range, gymnasium, hockey and football fields, basketball, volleyball and badminton courts, and a complete SSB obstacle course. The girls are up against thousands competing for just 24 NDA spots (6% of the total at the academy), he underlines.Since 2022, 68 of the institute’s 128 Lady Cadets, over half the total, have been recommended for commissioning into the Armed Forces, the director says. Many of them have been among top rankers in the entrance exams, with Mehakpreet Kaur, the daughter of a farmer from Ropar, finishing as All India Rank 1 in the Air Force Common Admission Test this year.Story continues below this ad“My message to the daughters of Punjab is that you dare to dream,” Khushi says. “You will make it.”