Director-general of National Cadet Corps (NCC) Lt-General P.S. Bhalla on Tuesday said girls should get more incentives so that they are motivated to join the service.
Lt-Gen. Bhalla met chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday to discuss several proposals for the NCC. He addressed a news meet at the NCC Group Headquarters, Patna, on Tuesday.
Among the proposals discussed were giving girl cadets facilities like reservations in air-conditioned compartments instead of sleeper class on trains. Lt.Gen. Bhalla, the Ati Vishisht Sena Medal (AVSM) director-general of the NCC, said: “Girls are full of energy, dynamism and commitment and are always eager to prove themselves.”
He added that four NCC academies would be set up in Patna, Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur and Gaya, which Nitish would inaugurate soon.
The hi-tech academies would comprise high-standard firing range, parade ground, multi-storeyed dormitory and AC conference hall.
With the motive to make the NCC more attractive for youths, Bhalla said the training curriculum for cadets needed to be refined.
He said: “Weather conditions do not permit NCC cadets to train for more than three to four months. If there are a few permanent locations, the cadets can undergo training throughout the year.” Bhalla said cadets, who come from villages, can adapt better to the environment than those from the cities. He also said that the NCC camps should be organised on weekends so that the urban cadets can be trained.
On the number of girls in the NCC from Bihar, Bhalla said: “In Bihar, only 15 to 16 per cent girls join the NCC. We are focussing on increasing the girls’ battalion. For this, a full-time lady officer and a girl cadet administrator would be recruited from among former NCC cadets.”
He also spoke on mixed battalion during his maiden visit to the state.
To boost the number of youths entering the NCC, Bhalla said: “C certificate holders should be given weightage in professional colleges. All of them should be given incentives and youth exchange programmes should be conducted for them so that youths are attracted to the NCC.”
Bhalla also talked about how to deal with youths in the NCC. He said: “Young cadets, who are full of distractions, need to be properly taken care of.”
Bhalla said the number of NCC trainers and associate NCC officers should be increased in Bihar so that more programmes could be run in the state.
Bhalla said: “Earlier, there were 13 lakh NCC cadets but from last year, we have been permitted to increase the number by 2 lakh. We will add 40,000 cadets every year to achieve the target. Seventy-six units would also be started in Maoist and insurgency areas across the country for new adventure activities for the cadets.”
