Army veteran grooming Gorakhpur village youth for Defence Services

Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), June 12 : A retired Captain of the Indian Army at Meethabel Village in Gorakhpur District of Uttar Pradesh has adorned a new role to be a trainer for the village youth to enable them join the Defence Services and serve the nation.

Adya Prasad Dubey, the retired Captain, besides training the village youth how to lead a disciplined life, gives them useful tips about how to take up the National Defence Academy (NDA) and Indian Military Academy (IMA) competitive examinations.

Having served the Indian Army for nearly 28 years, Captain A. K. Dubey decided to hang his boots and returned to his village in 1992.

On return, it came to him as a rude shock to notice how so many youngsters in his village were wasting their time.

Adya decided to groom some of the youngsters and be prepared to join the Defence forces. With passage of time man more joined his camp and the number swelled to 150.

Today, Captain Dubey is a popular name in the neighbouring districts of Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur district. He has been conducting the training from his own resources and meager pension.

For the past few years, a number of teenagers have been trained under Dubey at his open air academy have enrolled themselves in the Defence services and serving the nation with pride in commissioned rank or PBOR (personnel below officers' rank).

"I have almost 150 boys in this camp. There are even two girls among them. These boys join the Army, the para-military forces like the BSF, the CRPF, the SSB, the CISF and one among them has also joined the Indian Air Force, almost all in the uniformed services," claimed Capt. Adya Prasad Dubey.

Everyday, the training starts at dawn in the villages' open ground. These boys and girls, who were earlier found killing time in petty mischief or pranks, can be today noticed toiling hard.

Motivated by Captain Dubey, these youngsters are today keen to get into the uniformed services.

"I am getting my training from our coach Adya Prasad Dubey for seven months. He is our Guru and mentor. There are100-115 trainees in total. Here we are given the physical training," said Vijayalaxmi Verma, a trainee.

"I was selected in the EME Corps of the Indian Army. I am posted in Pathankot. I joined this camp during the end of 2004 and after being trained by our Captain Sahab for almost a year, I was recruited in the Indian Army in early 2006. My training started from Bhopal. Later, I was shifted to Baroda and now I am posted in Pathankot," said one Ranvir Kumar Verma.

A hero in the true sense, Capt. Adya Prasad Dubey has today shaped many youngsters' future in the hope that they would carry his legacy forward in the service of their motherland. By Vipul Goel

ANI