At a time when the government is pushing a massive expansion of the National Cadet Corps (NCC), the organisation’s top leadership has flagged the “dilapidated state” of infrastructure which has led to “poor perception” among the cadets. The issue was discussed at a conference of top NCC commanders on February 18. “The existing infrastructure including residential and office accommodation at many places are in dilapidated state, which (has) not only affected the morale but also spread a poor perception among the cadets who hold the armed forces in high esteem,” said Lt Gen A Chakravarty, DG, NCC, as per minutes of the meeting. He also suggested steps to put the infrastructure and manpower in place. The three-day meet was attended by DG, ADGs, DDGs of NCC state directorates, commandants of training academies and officials from NCC HQ. “We hold 476 parasails and all are unserviceable. Consequently, no parasailing activity was undertaken in the NCC last year. We must have the minimum required number of parasails and ensure that this activity is carried out keeping safety issues in mind. In fact, we should be back to doing all adventure activities in an exhaustive manner as it was done in the past. Youth are best motivated by doing adventure activities,” the DG is quoted as having said at the meeting. While the NCC headquarters did not respond to an email, official sources said the DG’s remarks were for internal consumption and that some action had been initiated after the meeting. “These are internal matters and remedies have been sought. Individual officers/ groups have been tasked. A plethora of activities are taking place within the NCC. Since 2011, the participation of cadets has almost doubled. The participation of girls too has increased,” said an official. According to the latest figures submitted by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in Parliament, the government has approved a five-phase expansion of NCC from 13 lakh cadets to 15 lakh cadets. This would involve raising five group headquarters and 61 NCC units. A budgetary provision of Rs18.75 crore has been made for this purpose in the current fiscal.
