The Prince of Wales Royal Indian
Military college (RIMC), today's Rashtriya Indian Military College, was formally
inaugurated on 13th March 1922 by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales (Duke of
Windsor), later King Edward VIII, at Dehra Dun. It was
located on the premises of the erstwhile Imperial Cadet Corps ( also called Rajwara Camp),
set amidst 150 acres (now 138 acres) of lush green countryside adjacent to Garhi Village
in Dehra Dun Cantonment. The original aim of the institution was to provide Indian
boys with suitable education and training to ensure their successful admission to the
Royal Military College, Sandhurst as part of the Indianisation programme of the officer
cadre of the Indian Army. After independence of India, the RIMC has continued to send its
cadets to the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla with almost 80 to 100 percent of the
cadets joining the NDA to pursue a career in the Armed Forces. Since then, thousands of
RIMC cadets have officered the Army, Navy and the Air Force and producing as many as 4
service chiefs, 118 officers of the rank of a Maj Gen and 263 above the rank of
Brigadiers, apart from a host of senior civil servants, ambassadors, executives and
captains of industry. RIMC has also contributed impressively to Pakistan producing 3 of
their service chiefs, a foreign minister, an interior minister and a foreign secretary
apart from an impressive gallery of successful entrepreneurs of Pakistan. The alumnus,
Rimcollians as they are called have also been in the Indian National Army of Netaji
Subhash Bose. One can safely presume that no other school would have
contributed so greatly towards a nation, from amongst so few; a batch at the RIMC
never exceeding 25 cadets, keeping the number of students in the college to as low as 250
cadets.
The RIMC is a public school like no other. Its 138 acre campus in the beautiful
cantonment, provides all the facilities of education, games, hobbies and extra curricular
activities that one could aspire for. The school is funded directly from the Ministry of
Defence as a Category A Establishment. The facilities and the subsidies provided to the
cadets will be an envy to any public school in India. It provides excellent food and
lodging; free, to the cadets who are all selected through an open all India Merit basis
competition. The 5 year plan of RIMC at the most impressionable age between 13 to 17
moulds an individual through all round development into future leaders and verily lives up
to the aim of the school which is "Cradle for Excellence".
