DEFENCE MINISTER TO VISIT NATIONAL INTEGRATION
CAMP OF NCC IN ASSAM TOMORROW
The National Integration Camps
organized by National Cadet Corps (NCC) have helped in inculcating
unity and nationalism amongst the youth. This was stated by the
Director General of NCC Lt. Gen BK Bopanna here today. He said
that as per the directions of the Defence Minister, these camps
will be conducted in far-flung areas of the country. Lt. Gen Bopanna
said that the Defence Minister will visit one such camp at Misamari
in Assam tomorrow. About 200 cadets from the north-east and 600
cadets from rest of India are attending this camp. He said that
National Integration Camps held in Ahmedabad in June and in Srinagar
during August this year proved to be very successful. About 550
cadets from all parts of the country participated in Ahmedabad
camp. The Defence Minister Shri George Fernandes, Minister of
State for Defence Shri Chaman Lal Gupta and Chief Minister of
Jammu and Kashmir visited the camp held in Srinagar. Another such
camp is being held at Nagrota in Jammu and Kashmir. In which 400
cadets from all over the country are participating.
The Director General
said that 678 annual training camps were organised by NCC during
the first half of 2002-2003 in which more than 3,26,000 cadets
participated. Referring to the disaster relief operations carried
out by NCC he said that there has always been an overwhelming
voluntary response from NCC cadets in the hour of need such as
the drought in Rajasthan and super cyclone in Orissa, Bihar and
West Bengal. He said that timely assistance provided by the NCC
cadets in the Bihar train accident in October this year was appreciated
by one and all.
The DGNCC informed
that for the first time this year NCC cadets traveled to Russia
and Vietnam under the Youth Exchange Programme. NCC has a Youth
Exchange Programme on reciprocal basis with UK, Singapore, Nepal,
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Bhutan, Russia and on non-reciprocal
basis with Maldives and Trinidad and Tobago. Over 130 cadets have
participated in these programmes so far.
The NCC will complete
fifty four years of its existence on the 24th of this
month. The Organisation which started off with a modest strength
of 1.6 lakh cadets in 1948 now has approximately 13 lakh cadets
these cadets are enrolled from 6985 schools and 5159 colleges
spread across the country and are controlled by 765 NCC units.
The NCC strives to develop character, comradeship, discipline,
leadership, secular outlook, spirit of adventure and the ideals
of self-less service amongst the cadets.
