OVERVIEW
The National Cadet Corps is the youth wing of Armed Forces with its headquarters at New Delhi, Delhi, India. It is open to school and college students on a voluntary basis. National Cadet Corps is a Tri-Services Organisation, comprising the Army, Navy, and Air Wing, engaged in grooming the youth of the country into disciplined and patriotic citizens. The National Cadet Corps in India is a voluntary organization that recruits cadets from high schools, higher secondary, colleges, and universities all over India. The Cadets are given basic military training in small arms and drill. The officers and cadets have no liability for active military service once they complete their course.
History
The NCC in India has formed the National Cadet Corps Act of 1948. It can be traced back to the ‘University Corps’, which was created under the Indian Defence Act 1917, with the objective to make up for the shortage in the Army. In 1920, when the Indian Territorial Act was passed, the ‘University Corps’ was replaced by the University Training Corps (UTC). The aim was to raise the status of the UTC and make it more attractive to the youth. The UTC Officers and cadets dressed like the army. It was a significant step towards
the Indianisation of armed forces. It was rechristened as UOTC so the National Cadet Corps can be considered as a successor of the University Officers Training Corps (UOTC) which was established by the British Government in 1942. During World War II, the UOTC never came up to the expectations set by the British. This led to the idea that some better schemes should be formed, which could train more young men in a better way, even during peace. A committee headed by H N Kunzru recommended a cadet organization to be established in schools and colleges at a national level. The National Cadet Corps Act was accepted by the Governor-General and on 15 July 1948, the National Cadet Corps came into existence.
In 1948, the Girls Division was raised in order to give equal opportunities to school and college going girls. The NCC was given an inter-service image in 1950 when the Air Wing was added, followed by the Naval Wing in 1952. In the same year, the NCC curriculum was extended to include community development/social service activities as a part of the NCC syllabus at the behest of Late Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who took a keen interest in the growth of the NCC. Following the 1962 Sino-Indian War, to meet the requirement of the Nation, the NCC training was made compulsory in 1963. In 1968, the Corps was again made voluntary.[2]
During the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 & Bangladesh-Pakistani war of 1971, NCC cadets were the second line of defence. They organised camps to assist ordnance factories, supplying arms and ammunition to the front and also were used as patrol parties to capture enemy paratroopers. The NCC cadets also worked for hand in hand with the Civil defence authorities and actively took part in rescue works and traffic control.[3]
After the 1965 and 1971 wars, the NCC syllabus was revised. Rather than just being a second line of defence, the revised NCC syllabus laid greater stress on developing qualities of leadership and officer-like qualities. The military training which the NCC cadets received was reduced and greater importance was given to social service and youth management.
Organisation[edit]
The NCC is headed by a Director General with the rank of Lieutenant-General.
He is assisted by two Additional Director Generals (A and B) of two-star rank (major-general, rear-admiral or air vice-marshal). Five Brigadier level officers and other civil officials also assist him.
The Headquarters is located in Delhi. The organisational structure continues as follows:
- Directorate – There are 17 Directorates[5] located in the state capitals headed by an officer of the rank of a Maj Gen from the three Services.
- Division/ Regimental Corps – There are 3 such Specialised Corps located in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore respectively. They are independent of the state directorate and report to the HQ. These divisions form the support function of the regular NCC. Each is headed by a Senior Officer- an equivalent rank of (Lt.) General. Internal Affairs, Administration, Development and Research: Lt. Gen. [SUO] Arvind Shekhar (New Delhi). Recruitment, Training, Media and HR: Lt. Gen. [SUO] Prithvi Pant Negi (Mumbai). Special Forces, Infantry, Gallantry Committee & Commendations: Lt. Gen. [SUO] Bhav Salimath (Bangalore).
- Group – Depending upon the size of the state and growth of NCC in the states, Directorates have up to 14 Group Headquarters under them through which they exercise their command and control of the organisation in the state. Each group is headed by an officer of the rank of Brigadier or equivalent known as Group Commander.
- Battalion- Each NCC Group Headquarters control 5–7 units(Bns) commanded by Colonel/Lt.Col or equivalent.
- Company – Each Battalion consists of companies which are commanded by the Associate NCC Officer(ANO) of the rank of lieutenant to major.
In all, there are 96 Group Headquarters in the country who exercise control over a network of 684 Army wing units (including technical and girls unit), 69 Naval wing units and 61 Air Squadrons. There are two training establishments namely Officers Training School, Kamptee (Nagpur, Maharashtra) and Women Officers Training School, Gwalior. Besides this Vice Chancellor's of various universities across India are conferred with the honorary rank of commandant in NCC, to promote and support NCC in their respective University.
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