The recent circulars by University Grants Commission and All India Council for Technical Education are paving the way for offering National Cadet Corps training as an Elective Credit Course, did not occupy much media space ostensibly due to the pre-occupation of the nation with the pandemic. This step by UGC could not have been timelier and germane. Of late NCC has caught the imagination of the nation not only for the role played by young cadets in supporting the fight against Covid-19 but also for engaging in many social service and community development activities and bravely facing the challenges of current times.
With academic institutions shut for the most part of the last year, the NCC cadets were busy doing online NCC training, National Integration Camps, and participating in a host of social campaigns, culminating in an impressive march past in the Republic Day Parade 2021. And if that was not enough, they also attended mandatory NCC camps and B & C Certificate Examinations from February to March 2021. There was never a dull moment for them throughout the pandemic. Appreciating the role played by NCC cadets in strengthening national integration, the Prime Minister on 15 August 2020 announced the expansion of NCC to the border and coastal areas The world’s largest voluntary uniformed youth organisation was raised by Parliamentary Act No XXXI in 1948 with 20,000 cadets. It has grown in stature and size over the years and currently has a sanctioned strength of 15 lakh cadets who undergo basic military-like training for two years in the junior wing and three years in the senior divisions. The curriculum and syllabus of NCC cater for character building, leadership, mental and physical toughening, critical thinking, problem-solving, team building, and a host of other soft skills apart from exposing them to limited military subjects. The capabilities and qualities thus imbibed by the cadets prepare them for the real world and help them combine these with academic knowledge to become more effective professionals in their chosen areas. NCC alumni swear by the qualities and capabilities they developed during NCC Camps and training. The list of distinguished NCC alumnus is endless and includes the likes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh, Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh, Sushma Swaraj, and so on. Thus, it is evident that the NCC training syllabus and curriculum is closely interwoven with the professional and personal development of a student into adult life. If that be so, should NCC continue to be treated as an extra-curricular activity as hitherto? Well, the UGC and the AICTE circulars provide the answer. The circulars not only underline the importance of NCC training in a student’s life but more importantly, recognise the necessity and possibility of adopting it in the main academic curriculum. These steps by UGC and AICTE are also in line with the New Education Policy 2020, which intends to remove the hard separation between curricular and extra-curricular activity as also expects Higher Educational Institution (HEIs) to migrate to Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) and offer community development, social service and other such youth development activities as credit courses. These steps would also be seen as major motivational boosts for lakhs of NCC cadets, who spend a large quantum of their non-academic time in undergoing NCC training and participating in a plethora of social service and community development activities, but currently do not receive corresponding academic weightage for the focused time they have spent and valuable lessons they have learnt. The newly designed NCC Elective Course is proposed to carry 24 credits spread over six semesters with specific credits for attending rigorous 10 days mandatory camp. In the first phase of implementation, NCC as an elective course/subject will be offered only in those colleges which already have NCC senior platoon or company, and to only those students who enrol as NCC cadets. This implies that a student of UG Course, who also enrols as an NCC Cadet, can partially offset his total credit score requirement for a UG degree with that earned in NCC. Students of other colleges who join under open quota vacancy will also get the benefit. Likewise, private colleges which are allotted NCC under the Fully Self-Financed Scheme (FSFS) will also be allowed to offer NCC Credit Course. The importance of the circulars also needs to be weighed against the felt need or otherwise of conscription or compulsory military training for youth. Many analysts and strategic thinkers have written about it, mostly in favour and some against it. It is the mammoth economic cost and logistic challenge that makes this proposition almost unviable. In August 2016, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar stated in parliament that the government has not found it feasible, in terms of infrastructure and resources, to make NCC training compulsory in schools and colleges. The potential outcomes of offering the NCC Credit Course needs to be viewed in the backdrop of this statement. If the FSFS experiment is successful, in future it may pave the way for possible expansion of NCC beyond the current sanctioned strength at an economical cost to the government. In case the government finds it viable and necessary in the national interest, HEIs in future may also be able to offer NCC to private students for just one or two semesters to receive basic NCC training and gain academic credits as well. This model has the potential to expand limited NCC training to cover a much larger population of students at a minimal economic cost. Well, while the UGC and the AICTE circulars apparently open up a wide range of possibilities, the implementation of the very first phase itself is expected to be a big challenge. The circulars by UGC and the AICTE specifically refers to the DG NCC letter of 16 March 2021 which not only elaborates on the proposal but also mentions a uniformly designed NCC General Elective Credit Course which would be available on the NCC website. Universities can make use of this universal model and adopt it as per CBCS norms after suitably modifying it as per respective academic norms and regulations. The ready availability of a pre-designed Credit Course model this time around, that can pass the muster of scrutiny by academic councils and board of studies of universities overcomes a major impediment. Hence, the success will therefore hinge on the level of involvement of the stakeholders which includes, MoD, MoE, DGNCC and the State Govts since the majority of the colleges that have NCC fall under state universities. State Directorates of NCC and NCC units at the grass-root level will play a vital role in consensus building and supporting the operationalisation of the circular in concerned colleges. As per informal feedback, the NCC student community is excited and eagerly awaiting implementation. The vast population of NCC alumni hails the UGC proposal almost unanimously. Further, the security situation in our neighbourhood, the uncertain world order, the damaging impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and other such looming global threats, underlines the necessity of strengthening and expansion of a disciplined and voluntary uniformed organisation like NCC. The circumstances today are more conducive, aspirational and essential; than ever before. It is now for the stakeholders of NCC to decide, how far they wish to go, to transform the aspiration of lakhs of NCC cadets into a reality, and in the words of the Prime Minister, take NCC into a higher plane as it turns 75 in 2023.
Maj Gen Indrabalan is currently serving as ADG NCC Bihar & Jharkhand and is concurrently pursuing PhD in social economics from NIT Patna. He headed the DGNCC Study Committee on the introduction of NCC as a Credit Course in Indian Universities. Prior to this, he was a faculty in Army War College. A veteran of the Kargil War 1999, he has represented India as a military observer in UN Mission in Sierra Leone.