Indian Army clarifies that Technical Entry scheme to continue in IMA, Dehradun

The Indian Army has proposed the shifting of the training of its Technical Entry schemes course from officer Training Academy in Gaya to the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in Dehradun.

Indian Army took to twitter and said,

Army officials clarify, "Contrary to some media reports that OTA, Gaya is closing the fact remains that only Technical Entry Scheme (TES) training may be shifted to Indian Military Academy (IMA) Dehradun once the proposal is accepted by the Defence Ministry." 

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It was said that the schemes, which allow selected 10+2 students from the science stream to pursue career opportunities in the technical branches in the Army, shall continue without any disruption.

A senior Army officer said, "Stream to pursue career opportunities in the technical branches in the Army, shall continue without any disruption." He said, “In the emerging technology-intensive environment, Technical Entry Scheme is essential and has due primacy. Technical Entry Scheme will remain our focus for better absorption of technology in the Army. The TES entry shall always be there. Talk of the TES entry closure is wrong."

In another proposal, the Indian Army is planning to streamline the induction of officials by limiting the entry to four streams. These four streams are National Defence Academy (NDA), Army cadet college (ACC), Technical Entry schemes (TES) and Short Service scheme. 

At present, there are seven schemes with different trading terms and entry requirements running concurrently, resulting in administrative issues. Indian Military Acadamy (IMA) in Dehradun and Officer Training Chennai, both are underutilized and can take more numbers of cadets.

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The IMA serves for permanent commissions (PC) officers while the OTA Chennai is for short service commission for both men and women.

The Gaya OTA which was opened in 2011, has not just trained Indian cadets but over the officers of 70 countries including Bhutan, Vietnam, Myanmar, Sri Lanka etc. Currently, the Gaya OTA has only 250 cadets including foreign ones which are supposed to handle 750 cadets per year.

The space vacated by the cadets at OTA Gaya will be occupied by the Sikh light Infantry Regimental Centre which is currently co-located with Rajput Regimental Centre at Fatehgarh, UP

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(With Inputs from ANI)