Services Preparatory Institute

Services Preparatory Institute (SPI) सैनिकी सेवापूर्व शिक्षण संस्था
Address
Sector N-12, CIDCO Aurangabad , Maharashtra , 431003 India
Coordinates	19.9065486493369, 75.34936669458817
Information
Type	Military School
Motto	Template:Lang-mr (Hard Work Pays)
Established	1977 (1977)
Grades	Class 11–12
Gender	Boys and Girls
Enrolment	60
Campus size	4 hectares (10 acres)
Colour(s)	Blue and grey
Feeder to	National Defence Academy, Indian Naval Academy, College of Military Engineering, Pune
Website	www.spiaurangabad.com www.girlspinashik.co.in

The Services Preparatory Institute (Template:Lang-mr) (abbrv. SPI) is a public military school in the industrial city of Chh. Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra is a feeder institute to the National Defence Academy & Indian Naval Academy.

The SPI trains young students from Maharashtra to join the Indian Armed Forces as a commissioned officer and prepares them academically, mentally and physically for the written examination for the NDA & NA exam conducted by the Union Public Service Commission and for the interview, psychological and other personality tests with the Services Selection Board.

The institute has an intake of 60 cadets per batch and can handle a combined strength of 120 cadets from 2 batches at any given time. These cadets are selected through a written test and in-person panel interview, headed by a retired officer of the Lieutenant General or equivalent.

History

After the establishment of National Defence Academy at Khadakwasla in 1954, it was observed that the number of Maharashtrian boys joining the NDA was less. Hence, to motivate and prepare the young boys from Maharashtra to join the Defence Services in the Officer Cadre, a committee was formed under the chairmanship of Lt Gen SPP Thorat, (Retd), Kirti Chakra, Padma Shri, DSO, D'Lit. by then Chief Minister of Maharashtra Shri. Yashwantrao Chavan.

On the recommendations made by this committee, the Services Preparatory Institute was formally established at Aurangabad, with the 1^st Course joining in the year 1977. The singular aim of the institute was to encourage the youth of the state to join the armed forces of India. Today, after 47 glorious years, almost 600 out of 2000 cadets have joined various defence academies, and have given their service to the nation.

Entrance Procedure

Students studying in class 10th in the current academic year are eligible to join SPI. Every year a notification is published in prominent newspapers of Maharashtra and on the official website of SPI around November.

Thereafter an MCQ-type written examination based on the syllabus of classes 8, 9 and 10 is conducted, 50% weightage is given to Math and the rest 50% is equally divided among basic English, General Science and Social Studies, is conducted in April. The exam also has a negative marking system.

The top 300 boys and 150 girls candidates of the written stage undergo a 15-20 Minutes panel interview, where they are asked basic questions related to academics, personal life, hobbies, sports, current affairs, general knowledge etc. in May.

A merit list is declared around the last week of May, based on performance in the written and interview stages. The selected candidates undergo 2 years of training at SPI subject to being declared medically fit.

Training

The SPI has a well-structured daily routine for the all-around development of a cadet to shape him/her into a good military leader. The training can be divided into further parts for better understanding:

1. Academics: The cadets of SPI are enrolled in one of the best schools in town to pursue studies for 11th and 12th through the CBSE board. At present, the Boys go to Stepping Stones High School, Aurangabad and the Girls go to Cambridge School, Nashik. Previous batches of SPI have studied at Government Arts and Science College, Aurangabad (GASCA) and Padmashree Shankar Bapu Apegaonkar English School, Aurangabad (PSBA).
2. NDA & NA exam: Every day, classes are conducted for the UPSC NDA exam. Highly experienced visiting faculty conduct these classes daily from 6 PM to 9 PM. The senior cadets from class 12th also share their valuable guidance with the junior batch to help in their written preparation.
3. SSB interview: Various activities like morning assembly, guest lectures by Officers, SSB modules, daily lecture practice, etc are conducted on a regular basis for personality development. Cadets develop soft skills, communication skills, and knowledge about the armed forces during their 2 years of stay at SPI.
4. Physical fitness: The cadets participate in morning PT and afternoon Games session daily to develop their physical fitness. PT tests are conducted from time to time to ensure the physical fitness of cadets matches the physical standards of NDA 4th term cadets at the end of 2 years of training in SPI. Various games such as football, volleyball, basketball, hockey, handball, boxing, and table tennis are taught by instructors, with swimming likely to be introduced shortly.

Section system

At the time of joining, the cadets are allotted one of the 3 sections in SPI, namely DEOGIRI, SHIVNERI and SINHGARH. Cadet continues to stay in the same section for next 2 years. Each section has a rich history of traditions and cadets continue to carry forward the legacy of ex cadets. These sections compete among themselves in various competitions which are held during the academic year, and every year on Republic Day, the Director's Banner is handed over to the winning section.

Daily Routine

Sr. No.	Time		Event
	From	To
1.	05.30 hrs	___	Reveille
2.	06.00 hrs	06.40 hrs	PT/ Drill
3.	06.45 hrs	07.15 hrs	Morning Assembly
4.	07.30hrs	8.30 hrs	Break Fast
5.	08.30 hrs	13.30 hrs	College Classes
6.	13.30 hrs	15.30 hrs	Spare Time
7.	15.30 hrs	16.00 hrs	Tea & Snacks
8.	16.00 hrs	17.15 hrs	Games
9.	17.15 hrs	18.00 hrs	Spare Time
10.	18.00 hrs	19.30 hrs	SPI Class(I Period)
12.	19.30 hrs	21.00 hrs	SPI Class(II Period)
13.	21.00 hrs	21.30 hrs	Dinner
14.	21.30 hrs	23.00 hrs	Self Study
14.	23.30 hrs	___	Lights Off

On Sundays, SPI conducts extra UPSC classes in the morning, and cadets are given an 'Out pass' from 1400h to 1900h.

Facilities

1. Manish Hall: Named after two martyred heroes, Lt Col Manish Kadam, KC (Posthumous) from the 9th course of SPI and Maj Manish Pitambare, KC (Posthumous), from the 14th Course of SPI. This hall serves as an inspiration to the cadets.

2. Library: The library has a collection of over 2500 books on various subjects. The collection contains encyclopedias, books on military science, biographies of prominent personalities, novels, and other interesting topics and subjects.

3. Medical Care: An M.D. Doctor attends the sick bay once a week. In case of serious cases, cadets are referred to a nearby hospital for treatment. Any additional expenditure at the hospital is to be borne by the parents.

4. Dronacharya Hall: Provided with state of the art facilities to develop a healthy physique and stamina of the cadets. This hall also utilized for table tennis and boxing matches. Recent upgradation has also made it possible to project audio-visual content using projectors.

5. Group Task Exercise: An exercise which is mandatory to pass the Services Selection Board interviews to get selected for the defence services. SPI has two arenas for Group Task Exercises.

6. IT Lab: A dedicated IT Lab with active internet connection is setup in the academic block Chanakya for the cadets.

Fees

The training at SPI is partially sponsored by the Government of Maharashtra, with cadets required to pay some fixed amount of fees for the accommodation and mess facility. Apart from this cadets have to fully pay for their a school in which they are enrolled for 11-12 classes.

Governance

The Institute works under the General Administration Department (Desk-28) of Mantralaya. SPI is headed by a Director who is a retired Armed Forces Officer of the rank of Lt Colonel and above or equivalent ranks of the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force.

A Governing Body (GB) is appointed by the Government to oversee the functioning of SPI.

The present Governing Body is given in the table below

1.	Lt Gen VG Patankar, (Retd) PVSM, UYSM, VSM	Chairman
2.	Maj Gen SG Pitre (Retd)	Member
3.	Maj Gen (Dr.) VP Pawar (Retd) AVSM, VSM	Member
4.	Commodore BS Karpe (Retd)	Member
5.	Air Commodore RH Karve (Retd)	Member
6.	Station Commander, Aurangabad	Ex-officio Member
7.	Divisional Commissioner, Aurangabad	Ex-officio Member
8.	Director, Department of Sainik Welfare	Ex-officio Member
9.	Director, SPI, Aurangabad	Member – Secretary

The institute has a dedicated and experienced staff, most of whom are retired personnel from the Armed Forces, to look after the training, discipline and welfare of the cadets all the time. A homely and caring atmosphere is also ensured.

Results

The First Batch of SPI is called the PIONEERS and with Cadet Sumant Uttamrao Dashrath from PIONEERS joining the academy in the very first attempt, the institute struck gold at very beginning. And since then there has been no looking back.

In 2019, 13 SPI cadets were selected to join the National Defence Academy and Indian Naval Academy.

In 2020, 22 cadets from SPI in Aurangabad made it to the Indian Armed Forces.

In 2021, 11 SPI cadets made it to NDA and INA.

In 2023, 44 cadets of SPI cleared the UPSC-NDA written exam, of which 15 have already been recommended from SSB.

Apart from this, many cadets who are not able to join NDA and INA, continue to follow their passion of joining defence services and get selected through the graduate level entries like UPSC CDSE, AFCAT, NCC, TGC and other tech entries.

Many students apply for admission to SPI, which has made headlines in recent years:

In 2020, over 13,000 applicants in the race for 60 seats at SPI in Aurangabad.

In 2021, SPI got 5,779 applications for 60 seats.

SPI for Girls

From the year 2023, a separate SPI for girls has been established at Nashik by the Maharashtra Government. The girls along with boys are allowed to appear in the entrance examination for admission to SPI, with 1st girls' course having their attempt in September, 2024.

Gallantry Awards

Kirti Chakra (Posthumous)

• Lt Col Manish Kadam
• Maj Manish Pitambare

Shaurya Chakra

• Capt Mukund Sarsar
• Col K.M. Shende
• Capt Milind Mokashi, IN

Sena Medal

• Col Abhishek Bajpai
• Capt Niranjan Jog
• Maj Hintendra Marathe, SM*
• Capt Anil Kakade
• Lt Col Ninad Kulkarni, SM*
• Maj Nawab Khan
• Maj Rajesh Kulkarni
• Capt Chetan Dhawad

Vayu Sena Medal

• Sqn Ldr Parag Dongre, VM
• Capt Abhijit Bhamre
• Group Captain Hirendra Assudani, Vayu Sena Medal (Devotion to duty), 2013

Notable Achievements

Sr. No.	Name of Alumnus	Honor	Academy
1.	GC Mohit Markale	Sword of Honour	[IMA]
2.	GC Prashant Shinde	Bronze Medal	[IMA]
3.	GC Karan Kothari	Sword of Honour	[IMA]
4.	Cadet Piyush Jagdhane	Silver Medal	[NDA POP]
5.	Cadet Yogesh Hirekar	Silver Medal	[NDA POP]
6.	Cadet Aditya Kohale	Bronze Medal	[NDA POP]

Alumni

The alumni proudly call themselves a SPI (pronounced as "spy"). Many SPIes have led a successful career in armed forces reaching upto the ranks of Air Vice Marshal in Air Force, Brigadier in Army and Commodore in Navy.

Recently, Air Vice Marshal P.S. Wadodkar became the first 2 star officer from the SPI.

Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Bansod, popularly known as 'Colonel Kalashnikov' of India for developing India’s first-ever 9mm machine pistol – the ASMI is from the 20th Course of SPI.

Apart from this many SPIes have achieved great heights in civil career. Some have went on to join the prestigious IFS, IAS and IPS through UPSC Civil Services exam.