In his I-Day speech, PM spoke about the expansion of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) in coastal and border districts of India.
Try this question:
Q.The Shekatkar Committee recommendations sometimes seen in the news are related to:
a) Modernization of Railways b) Modernization of Defence c) Road Infrastructure d) Cashless Payments
About NCC
- The NCC, which was formed in 1948, has its roots to British era uniformed youth entities like University Corps or University Officer Training Corps.
- It enrols cadets at the high school and college level and also awards certificates on completion of various phases.
- Headed by a Director-General of three-star military rank, the NCC falls under the purview of MoD and is led by serving officers from the Armed forces at various hierarchical positions.
- The NCC currently has 17 regional directorates which govern the NCC in units in various states or groups of states and union territories.
- Each school and college units have Associate NCC Officers and cadets are also assigned various leadership roles in the form of cadet appointments.
- NCC has a dual funding model where both the centre and states or union territories provide budgetary support.
Training the cadets
- The NCC cadets receive basic military training at various levels and also have academic curriculum basics related to Armed forces and their functioning.
- Various training camps, adventure activities and military training camps are an important aspect of NCC training.
- NCC cadets have played an important role over the years in relief efforts during various emergency situations.
- During the ongoing pandemic, over 60,000 NCC cadets have been deployed for voluntary relief work in coordination with district and state authorities across the country.
PM’s announcement
- Expansion of NCC in the border and coastal area has been under consideration of the Ministry of Defence for quite some time.
- PM took this I-Day to announce that from the 173 coastal and border districts, one lakh cadets, a third of them girls, will be trained.
- Currently, the NCC has the strength of around 14 lakh cadets from Army, Navy and Air Force wings.
- Border and coastal areas will get trained manpower to fight with disasters. Youth will acquire the required skills for careers in armed forces.
Significance of expansion
- In the coastal regions, where youth are already familiar with the sea, the training will increase interest in careers in Navy, Coast Guard and also Merchant shipping avenues.
- In the border area, the trained cadets can play an important role in various contingencies and also in supporting roles to the Armed forces in various roles.
