The National Cadet Corps (NCC), the first ladder for many to scale heights in defence ranks, made good inroads into its plans to strengthen its representation from international border areas in Northeast India.
“We have made good progress in enrolling cadets to fill up the 16,324 additional vacancies announced for the border areas of Northeast,” said Maj Gen Bhaskar Kalita, the additional director general (ADG) of NCC NE Region based in Shillong.
The vacancies were announced by the central government in addition to the regular enhancement of NCC strength in order to provide capacity building and inculcate feelings of patriotism among the youth of the border region.
Maj Gen Kalita while speaking to a group of media personnel, however, cited some challenges including administrative hurdles in filling up the vacancies.
Underlining the importance of taking up NCC at the school level for a good career in defence organisations or for that matter taking up leadership in any sector, Maj Gen Kalita said: “Right from its first batch of 1917 till date, National Cadet Corps has produced great leaders such as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, former Prime Minister Morarji Desai and present Prime Minister Narendra Modi among many others.”
Netaji was enrolled on the NCC’s first batch of 250 cadets comprising students of Calcutta University.
Meanwhile, Gen Kalita pointed out the fair share of representation of the Northeastern states in the National Cadet Corps.
Of the total 14.8 lakh NCC cadets in the country, the strength in the NE region has gone up to around 88,000, he said.
Interestingly, the male-female ratio of NCC cadets in the Northeast is much better than that of the national scene.
“The national male-female ratio is 65:35 while the ratio in Northeast is 50:50,” said Maj Gen Bhaskar Kalita, who hails from Rampur in Kamrup district of Assam.
He also mentioned the special attention given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a group of NCC cadets from the Northeast dressed in traditional attire following his Independence Day speech at Red Forth last month.
Urging parents to encourage their wards to take up NCC at the school level, Maj Gen Kalita said there are ample advantages in joining this organisation, including learning the art of public speaking, personality development and leadership skills besides the strong advantage of getting into defence jobs.
