Date:11/09/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/09/11/stories/2004091104820500.htm

Andhra Pradesh

NCC cadet strength doubles in State

By Our Staff Reporter

VISAKHAPATNAM, SEPT. 10. There is a growing interest among youth for joining the National Cadet Corps (NCC) and during the last four years the cadet strength in the State had doubled. Cadet strength in the State, which was 70,000 in 1999, had gone up to 1.4 lakhs by 2003, covering 1,072 institutions, according to the Deputy Director-General of the NCC Directorate-AP, James Sebastian.

``The participation by women has also been encouraging with girl cadets accounting for 24 per cent, the second highest in the country,'' Air Commodore Sebastian told reporters here on Friday.

He was here in connection with the ongoing combined annual NCC training camp in which 750 cadets are participating.

Cadets from State

Naval cadets to represent the Andhra Pradesh NCC Directorate team will be selected for the All-India Nau-Sainik camp, scheduled to be held here in October. Air Commodore Sebastian said that efforts are being made to get more cadets from the rural areas as those from urban areas were in an advantageous position with their ability to speak Hindi and English. As of now, 40 per cent of the cadets were from urban areas and the remaining from the rural areas. However, the strength could not be further increased because there had to be a corresponding increase in recruitment into the Armed Forces.

The NCC was also instrumental in promoting national spirit, he said. Apart from inculcating discipline and a spirit of camaraderie, other values are also being imparted to the new generation of cadets.

Ninety camps

On the conduct of camps, Air Commodore Sebastian said that though the budgetary allocation was sufficient for 70 camps to meet the parameter that 50 per cent cadets had to attend the camps, 90 are being organised.

The total annual budget for the State for NCC was Rs.28 crores. Cadets from the State were doing well, he said, citing their good performance in the Nau-Sainik camp in the previous year. The Group Commandant, Visakhapatnam, A.V.S. Ramesh, was present at the press conference held at Yarada.