How to rejuvenate the National Cadet Corps

An institutional mechanism can be implemented wherein the veterans are co-opted in training as well as in the administration of these NCC units.

- MAJOR GEN ASHOK KUMAR (RETD)

There are various resources that collectively shape a nation. Youths constitute the most important and critical resource for nation building. In a federal structure as prevalent in the country to a large extent, both the Central government as well as state governments/union territories run programmes to educate and empower the youths for their participation in nation building. In addition to the structured educational inputs, various other programmes in the form of National Cadet Corps (NCC), National Service Scheme (NSS), Bharat Scouts and Guides etc., are also available for character and capacity building. Now that the country has celebrated 75 years of Independence, it is time to look at a fresh road map towards all these youth organisations and their programmes. It may be better to have a centralised approach at the directional level with a decentralised approach at the execution level. Some of the measures necessitating the rejuvenation of NCC are as under:

SINGULAR NATIONAL SCHEME: When NCC commenced in India in July 1948 after Parliament Act XXXI of 1948 was passed in April 1948, the responsibility to nurture the NCC was given to the defence forces as they were thought to be most capable to instil the requisite values in the youths and the same continues till date. While all other youth empowerment schemes are also making positive contributions, they need to be amalgamated in NCC with the syllabus being suitably reviewed. The syllabus could be standardised or may have two parts, one common, whereas the second could include variable content to continue with wider scope of domain coverage. While some effort was made towards this direction in the past but it has not fructified in a singular scheme. A unified approach will not only provide standardisation but will also save substantial infrastructure and overhead costs which can be utilised for capacity expansion.