Expansion of the NCC – Burning Issues – Free PDF Download

• The News
• PM Narendra Modi in his independence day speech said, that there will be expansion of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) in coastal and border districts of India.
• It was announced that from the 173 coastal and border districts, one lakh cadets, a third of them girls, will be trained.
  • In border areas, the Army will train the cadets.
  • In the coastal area, the Navy will train the cadets.
  • Near the air bases, the Air Force will undertake training activities.

Is it a sudden decision?

• The expansion of NCC in the border and coastal area has been under consideration of the Ministry of Defence for quite some time now.
• The restructuring of the NCC was one of the key recommendations of the Lt Gen DB Shekatkar Committee which submitted report way back in December 2016.
• In May 2020, finally Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the MoD was determined to go ahead with the expansion of NCC in coastal and border areas.

About NCC

• The history of NCC can be traced back to the ‘University Corps’, which was created under the Indian Defence Act 1917, with the objective to make up for the shortage in the Army.
• In 1920, through the Indian Territorial Act, the ‘University Corps’ was replaced by the University officers Training Corps (UOTC).
• The current NCC can be considered as a successor of the UOTC, which was recommended by a committee headed by H N Kunzru in Constituent Assembly.

About NCC

• The NCC was finally formed in 1948 as a cadet organisation to be established in schools and colleges at national level.
• NCC is a voluntary service, however after the 1962 Indo-China war the NCC training was made compulsory. Again in 1968, the NCC was made voluntary.
• Motto of NCC : “Unity and Discipline”
• NCC falls under the purview of Ministry of Defense.
• NCC is headed by a Director General of three-star military rank.
  • Currently it is Lt Gen Rajeev Chopra, AVSM

About NCC

• Currently the NCC has a strength of around 14 lakh cadets from Army, Navy and Air Force wings.
• It enrolls cadets at high school and college level and also awards certificates on completion of various phases.
• The NCC cadets receive basic military training at various levels and also have academic curriculum basics related to Armed forces and their functioning.

Role of NCC

• NCC cadets have played an important role over the years in relief efforts during various emergency situations.
  • Ex: Indo-Pakistan war 1965 &  Indo-Pakistan war 1971

• NCC cadets acted as second line of defence. They organised camps to assist ordnance factories, supplying arms and ammunition to the front and were also used as patrol parties.

• In the current Covid-19 pandemic, over 60,000 NCC cadets have been deployed for voluntary relief work across the country.
• In fact Ministry of Defence (MoD) has allowed temporary employment of NCC cadets under ‘Exercise NCC Yogdan’.

Road ahead for the NCC

• In the border area, NCC can continue to play an important role in various contingencies.
• In the coastal regions, where youth are already familiar with the sea, the training will increase interest in careers in Indian Navy, Coast Guard and merchant navy.
• Govt is also planning to make the NCC activities compatible with the semester system of the colleges and universities.
• NCC development in tribal areas should be explored in future.
• In fact in future, it is imperative that not just defence ministry but Home Ministry, Education Ministry, Tribal ministry and ministry of rural development should collaborate to reap proper benefits of NCC in national development.

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