Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved a proposal of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) for a major expansion scheme in all the border and coastal districts, the Defence Ministry said on Sunday.
“A total of one lakh cadets from 173 border and coastal districts will be inducted in the NCC. One-third of the cadets would be girl cadets. More than 1,000 schools and colleges have been identified in border and coastal districts where NCC will be introduced,” the Ministry said in a statement. As part of the expansion plan, a total of 83 NCC units will be upgraded — Army 53, Navy 20, Indian Air Force (IAF) 10 — to impart NCC training to the cadets in the border and coastal areas, it stated.
The proposal on NCC expansion was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address on Saturday.
The Army will provide training and administrative support to the NCC units located in the border areas, Navy to the units in the coastal areas and IAF to the units close to Air Force stations. The expansion plan would be implemented in partnership with the States, the Ministry added.
In Meghalaya, seven border districts have been identified for NCC expansion which would get 5,445 additional vacancies, taking the strength to 11,621 in the State over the next three years, a Defence PRO said.
Under this scheme, two minor units, 41 Artillery battery and 42 Meghalaya Signal company, would be upgraded to a battalion strength and 2 Meghalaya NCC Batallion would get additional manpower. It was a 100% central-funded scheme. In all, 40 higher secondary schools and 15 colleges were identified in these seven border districts, the PRO added.
