NCC women cadets on a glider on the occasion of World Women's Day in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, March 8: Young NCC cadets at the state’s only NCC Air Squadron in the capital celebrated the spirit of womanhood on the occasion of International Women’s Day today.

Girl cadets took part in a range of activities starting from flying aircrafts to 0.22 range firing as their male counterparts cheered on. “Today was our day, a very special day indeed, as we were given preference in every activity,” said cadet Tazeen Qureshy, a student of BJB (Autonomous) College.

“Gone are the days when the Indian Air Force or Army commissioned only a handful of women. Nowadays, girls outnumber boys in every sphere. They have come out of their shells and are getting into daring jobs which is a giant leap for womankind,” added Tazeen, who specialises in flying.

Some of the cadets expressed their opinion regarding the significance of Women’s Day during the celebrations. Cadet Rojalin Mohapatra, who has been undergoing training here for two years, said people’s attitude towards women was positively changing.

“Women are as competent as men. We have a lot of women breaking the glass ceiling today. For instance, Kalpana Chawla who rocketed into space and set an example for entering into what was previously considered as male bastion,” said Rojalin, a student of Maharishi College of Natural Law.

Earlier, this NCC Air Squadron comprised of male cadets (senior division) only. It was only in 2006 that 33 per cent of the total seats were reserved for girls (senior wing) here.

“However, if you go by the selection procedure, purely on the basis of merit, this unit will very soon become a completely girls’ unit.

“The performance of the girl cadets is definitely superior than the boys, be it ground or flight training or participation in other activities,” said Wing Commander Bikash Kanungo of 1 Orissa Air Squadron.

Kanungo said the top five positions in last year’s C-certificate examination (part of NCC training) were swept by girls.

“We are trying to motivate them and give them their dues. The era of discrimination is over now. It is no longer a competition between the two sexes; it is now a race where boys have to catch up with girls,” he said.