National NCC Day

 

The National Cadet Corps (Hindi: राष्ट्रीय कैडेट कोर) is the Indian military cadet corps with its Headquarters at New Delhi. It is open to school and college students on voluntary basis. 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. The National Cadet Corps in India is a voluntary organization which recruits cadets from high schools, colleges and Universities all over India. The Cadets are given basic military training in small arms and parades. The officers and cadets have no liability for active military service once they complete their course but are given preference over normal candidates during selections based on the achievements in the corps.

NCC was firstly started in 1666 in Germany. The NCC in India was formed with the National Cadet Corps Act of 1948. It was raised on 15 July 1948. The origin of NCC can be traced back to the ‘University Corps’, which was created under the Indian Defence Act 1917, with the object to make up the shortage of 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 in the form of 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 Pandit 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 1949, 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. 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 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 Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 & Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, NCC cadets were second line of defense. They organized camp 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 hand in hand with the Civil defense authorities and actively took part in rescue works and traffic control.^[3]

After 1965 and 1971 wars NCC syllabus was revised. Rather than just being second line of defense, NCC syllabus laid greater stress on developing quality of leadership and officer like qualities. The military training which the NCC cadets received was reduced and greater importance was given to other areas like social service and youth management.

An Official Song of the NCC titled “Kadam Mila Ke Chal” was adopted in 1963. This was, however, changed to the current NCC Song titled “Ham Sabh Bhartiya Hain” in Oct 1982. “Ham Sabh Bhartiya Hain” - NCC song is written by Sudarshan Faakir