The National Cadet Corps (NCC) headquarters in New Delhi is proposing to create a new directorate for Andhra Pradesh in Velagapudi.
Since bifurcation of the State, the five NCC groups located in Guntur, Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Kurnool, and Tirupati are being monitored by the NCC Directorate in Secunderabad, now in Telangana.
Consequently, the NCC headquarters is mulling expansion of its activities in Andhra Pradesh.
Deputy Director-General, NCC Directorate of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, P. Maheshwar, recently met Special Chief Secretary (sports and youth advancement) L.V. Subramanyam in the State capital and discussed issues such as allotment of training areas for the groups, development activities, and creation of the new directorate in the State.
At present, NCC has 17 directorates across the country, and is planning to establish the 18th one.
Largest group
“The Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Directorate has 1.3 lakh cadets, of whom 75,000 are from Andhra Pradesh,” said Kakinada NCC Group Commander L.C.S. Naidu. “The new directorate requires five acres, and each group needs about 25 acres for training. The Kakinada NCC Group is the largest in the country with 13 units under its command, including the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Remount and Veterinary (R&V) squadrons,” said Colonel Naidu.
Many NCC ‘C’ certificate-holders are joining the Army in various cadres. Priority is being given to the NCC cadets in various State and Central government departments as per reservation in recruitments.
“The State government has sanctioned ₹10 crore for various developmental activities for the year 2017-18,” Col. Naidu said.
The Youth, Advancement, Tourism, and Culture (YATC) officials held discussions with the government for establishing a new directorate, and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu responded positively to allot land at Velagapudi, the NCC official said.
‘Serve nation’
“NCC will help youth maintain good physique and health, besides promoting discipline. I call upon the students to join the Army, the Air Force, and the Naval through NCC and serve the country,” he said.
