The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : `NCC cadets shaping destiny of youth'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 28, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

`NCC cadets shaping destiny of youth'

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, AUG. 27. The Director-General of the National Cadet Corps (NCC), Lt.Gen. M.C. Bhandari, today said the disciplined youth organisation continued to carry on its activities for promotion of national integration and secular values despite tough challenges in insurgent-infested States.

The NCC cadets had taken a "calculated challenge" in these areas to spread the message of unity and secularism, he told reporters here.

Replying to queries on the role of the NCC in weaning "misguided youth" away from the path of violence in the terrorist-infested Jammu and Kashmir and northeastern States, Lt.Gen. Bhandari said though tackling insurgency was basically the responsibility of the uniformed forces, the cadets were also shaping the destiny of the youth there.

The NCC was carrying out its programmes under 16 Directorates on a Central budgetary allocation of Rs. 315 crores and around Rs. 250 crores by the State Governments. Considering that its strength of 13 lakh cadets formed merely 3.8 per cent of the total student strength in the country and the increasing demand from schools and colleges to join the NCC, it required more funds, manpower and infrastructure, he said. Policy-makers in Delhi appreciated the role being played by the organisation. In Tamil Nadu alone, 180 colleges were on the wait list to join the NCC.

About 35 per cent of the trainees in the Army, Navy and Air Force academies were associated with the NCC.

Vision document

A vision document for the NCC with short-term and long-term plans would soon be finalised in consultation with the Central and State Governments, Lt.Gen. Bhandari said. It would plan blood donation camps for cadets twice a year. He appreciated cadets from the State for their remarkable performance during the Republic Day parade and the Prime Minister's rally.

Commending the Centre and the State Governments for extending assistance to the NCC, he said the Governments should enhance their incentives, earmarking seats for the cadets in professional and vocational training institutes. Private sector companies had also come in a big way to help the organisation, he claimed.

Lt.Gen. Bhandari would participate in a cancer awareness programme jointly organised by the NCC and the Cancer Care India in Chennai tomorrow and visit the NCC Group headquarters in Pondicherry on Sunday.

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