National Cadet Corps celebrates 73rd anniversary of its raising

Cadets all across the country will attend celebratory events, participating in marches, blood donation camps, and other social welfare programmes.

The National Cadet Corps (NCC), the youth wing of the Indian Armed Forces and the largest uniformed youth organisation in the world, is observing the 73rd anniversary of its raising on Sunday, November 28.

National Cadets Corps (NCC) perform physical exercises during an annual training camp at Nagrota on the outskirts of Jammu. (PTI / File Photo)

According to reports, cadets all across the country will attend celebratory events, participating in marches, blood donation camps, and other social welfare programmes. In addition to marking an important day for the establishment of the armed forces, the multifaceted activities held on this day also contribute to the all-around self-development of the young cadets and, according to the NCC, shape them into responsible citizens of tomorrow.

The NCC, with its headquarters in New Delhi, is open to school and college students on a voluntary basis as a ‘tri-services organisation’, comprising the army, the naval, and the air wings.

Although officially founded through the Act of 1950, its history can be traced back to the ‘University Corps’, which was created under the Indian Defence Act 1917 with an objective to make up for personnel shortage in the Indian Army. The NCC also expanded later on to include the Girls Division in 1949 to provide equal opportunities to women willing to serve the country's defences.

Meanwhile, the Indian Army held a ‘Pre-Republic Day’ camp from November 18 to 27 to select a vibrant and strong contingent to represent the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh directorates in the upcoming Republic Day parade in January. NCC cadets from all districts of J&K and Ladakh attended the camps at various places to include Machil, Tangdhar, Gurez, Rangreth Srinagar, Poonch and Nagrota during these four days.

As many as 250 cadets from all the districts of the Union territories of J&K and Ladakh attended the camp, according to a statement by the Indian Army on Saturday.

“Rapid Antigen Test of all the staff and cadets was conducted by the team of doctors of BMO, Nagrota on November 18, 2021,” it added. “During the camp, the cadets underwent basic training like PT, drill, weapon training, firing, map reading and grooming to instil confidence.”