Ranchi, March 28: The countdown has begun for the National Cadet Corps to shut shop in Jharkhand following poor allocation of funds by the state government.
Less than Rs 3 crore has been allocated against a demand of Rs 6 crore by the corps, which was forced to run on money borrowed from the Army. If the corps takes the unprecedented step, Jharkhand will be the first state to be without NCC.
A senior NCC official said: “You can wake up a sleeping man, but not one who pretends to be asleep. Peeved with the fact that the government is not co-operating even when it has to bear only a part of the expense, because the rest is borne by the Centre, the corps has made up its mind to move out of the state.”
He added: “The step was taken after the government scrapped the refreshment allowance for cadets and lowered the budgetary allocation for holding camps and flying aircraft. ”
Sources said the first step in this direction was the gradual shut down of nine NCC units. An NCC officer of the rank of Lt. Col. was recalled by Delhi today. The corps headquarters was keen on shifting assets, worth 40 crore, to a neighbouring state where NCC activities are “encouraged by the government”.
Chief minister Arjun Munda is likely to hold a meeting with the NCC in the first week of April. However, the NCC is not impressed. “The NCC cannot survive merely on promises. The group does not want repetition of earlier promises of funds from Jharkhand Contingency Fund and supplementary budget,” senior NCC commanders said.
Parmod Bundhela, an NCC commander, said: “All the promises proved to be false. We are trying our best, but cannot say what will eventually happen. It is difficult to survive in this state.”
Director of sports, art and culture Satyadev Singh said: “The budget can be increased later. There are provisions like the JCF and supplementary budget. We will not let NCC suffer due to paucity of funds. They are free to go if they want to, but it is our duty to provide them with funds.”
However, some government officials blamed the finance department for turning down most of the proposals of the NCC directorate. But NCC commanders are unfazed by the blame game.
“Officers deputed with the NCC get less than one-tenth of the facilities and comfort they get in the armed forces. Still they tried their best to ensure that NCC continues in Jharkhand. But it was all in vain,” sources said. “NCC has always been positive.That’s why it stayed here so long despite apathy from the government and all those who matter. It has pumped in more money in Jharkhand than it has done in other states. In unified Bihar there were only nine officers in Jharkhand area, but on government’s assurance 10 more were deputed here after the state was separated from Bihar. Besides there are nine full-fledged unit, including Air Force unit, with two planes worth Rs 60 lakh each, three gliders worth Rs 10 lakh each and four parasailing units worth Rs 4 lakh each. It has advanced equipment for imparting training to cadets,” sources said.
