PTI
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 6
Vice President Hamid Ansari today encouraged more youth to join the National Cadet Corps, stating that it facilitates growth of young boys and girls into “robust, resilient and responsible adults”, besides building their character.
Addressing over 2,000 cadets at the inauguration of the NCC Republic Day Camp here, the Vice President, an ex-cadet of the Corps, underlined the importance of NCC in giving the youth a direction and a sense of achievement in life.
“I would like to encourage more young people to join the NCC and get the benefit of an educational experience that facilitates character building and helps mould them into robust, resilient and responsible adults.
“I also hope that parents will encourage their children’s participation in NCC as the many healthy and meaningful activities will keep young people gainfully occupied and give them a sense of achievement,” he said.
The camp comprising 2,069 cadets, including 695 girls drawn from the 17 NCC Directorates covering all the states and Union Territories, will culminate into the Prime Minister’s Rally on January 28 at the camp site adjacent to Garrison Parade Ground in Delhi Cantonment.
The Vice President also emphasised the role of the NCC in grooming the youth into leaders of tomorrow.
“Its mission, since its inception in 1948, has been to complement the academic education of student cadets. And, a series of activities provide much room for character development, leadership training and building esprit de corps,” he said.
NCC sea cadets have been training in seamanship, sailing and scuba diving while the air cadets receive training in flying and aeromodelling, besides attending mountaineering courses and glider courses.
Through such activities, Ansari noted the “cadets learn values such as courage, discipline, confidence and respect for authority.”
The NCC has also planned an initiative to send its female cadets to conquer Mt Everest peak this year.
“...the NCC is playing an important role in shaping the character and moral fibre of our people, and ultimately the effectiveness and dynamism of the nation,” he added.
Earlier, a contingent of immaculately dressed cadets drawn from all three wings -- Army, Navy and Air Force -- presented a guard of honour to the Vice President on his arrival.
This was followed by two separate routines by an all-boy band contingent followed by an all-girl one, which left the crowd enthralled. .
“During the camp, a number of activities like cultural events, national integration awareness programmes and institutional training competitions would be held,” a defence official said.
From the camp, one all-male and one all-female contingent with a strength of 148 members each will participate in the Republic Day Parade. Also, one all-male band of 90 cadets and all-female band of 45 cadets will also take part in it.
“The NCC’s total authorised strength at present stands at 13.8 lakh and the plan is to take it further up to 15 lakh in the next few years,” NCC Director General Lt Gen Aniruddha Chakravarty said.
“We also intend to increase the strength of women cadets in the force to 33 per cent under the programme,” he said.
“Besides the VP (Ansari), the current Defence Minister (Manohar Parrikar), all three chiefs of the armed forces, actress Jaya Bhaduri, Union minister Sushma Swaraj, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose have also been NCC cadets,” the defence official added.
National Cadet Corps is a Tri-Services Organization, comprising the Army, Navy and Air Force, engaged in grooming the youth of the country into disciplined and patriotic citizens.
Many NCC cadets are among the thousands of volunteers who are helping the Delhi government in its ambitious odd-even road rationing scheme to combat air pollution in the city.
