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During a press briefing at Delhi Cantonment, Director General of the National Cadet Corps (NCC), Lt Gen Gurbirpal Singh also said that there is a ”steady increase” in enrolment of girl cadets in the NCC every year.
The Ministry of Defence later in a statement said a band, comprising 45 girls from the Northeast, is participating in this camp for the ”first time”.
The members of the band are in the age group of 13-15, representing the rich cultural heritage of the Northeast and showcasing the reach of the NCC to every nook and corner of the country, it said.
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”For this year’s NCC Republic Day Camp, we have 2,274 cadets and enhanced participation of girl cadets this year, as 907 of them will be there in this year’s camp,” he said.
These cadets also include 122 from Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh UTs as well as 177 from the Northeast. In addition, cadets and officers from 25 friendly countries under the Youth Exchange Programme will participate, it said.
A total of 2,155 cadets, including 710 girls, drawn from all 28 states and eight union territories, had participated in the nearly month-long camp in 2023, according to an official statement issued by the government last year.
”Various competitions will be held, starting from best contingent, best cadet and horse riding. The camp captures the essence of NCC training imparted throughout the year,” Lt Gen Singh told reporters on Wednesday.
The camp takes place at the Cariappa Parade Ground in Delhi Cantonment.
During his briefing, the DG, NCC gave a presentation on the 2024 camp and later shared information on the NCC’s plan to make the training of cadets more relevant to contemporary needs.
”We are in the process of revising the NCC syllabus, which is a continuous process. We want to make this training contemporary, we want to include the latest facets, we are in the process of analysing how we can train cadets on drones, improve life skills and make the training more contemporary and relevant,” he said.
Citing an example, the top officer said for map reading, the NCC has already included GPS and satellite imagery training for them.
”So, one is to make our training more contemporary. The second aspect is to improve the infrastructure for training, we have NCC training academies,” Lt Gen Singh said in response to a query.
The next effort, he said, would be to improve the infrastructure so that the cadets can be trained well with the help of latest equipment.
”And, thirdly also to look after the welfare of all the staff of NCC,” Lt Gen Singh said.
The NCC R-Day Camp also serves as a platform for youths of the country, drawn from different states and Union Territories, to interact among themselves and learn about each other’s culture.
The DG of the NCC in response to another query said the present strength of the Corps is roughly ”95-96 per cent of the authorised strength of 17 lakh”.
”Every year about 6-7 lakh cadets come and 6-7 lakh of them pass out. Our enrolment starts after opening of schools, and it goes on till October-November,” he added.
A senior official present during the briefing said, on an average there has been ”one per cent increase every year” in the number of girl cadets in the NCC.
In 2019, their strength was 33 per cent of the total, in 2020, the figure stood at 34 per cent, and in 2021 it rose to 35 per cent and this year it is 39 per cent.
The DG, NCC said the figure is close to 50 per cent in some states of Northeastern regions and in Kerala.
”Our target is to reach 40 per cent,” he said, adding that by the next year, the NCC should be touching this figure. ”Every year, there is a steady increase”.
On a query on Agniveer scheme, the NCC DG said it is ”for benefit of the NCC cadets” as they get bonus marks for Agniveer scheme.
”After Agniveer tenure, if anybody wants to pursue a different career, he has an option to pursue it, this is a good scheme for the NCC,” he added.
On a query on keeping sound mental health for cadets, the top officer said, leadership capsules, case studies are done. Adventure and physical activities lead to better mental health. They do yoga, some agencies come and train cadets on personality development and on leadership, Lt Gen Singh said.