"Why do you want to join the Armed Forces"? This was one of the questions posed to a young lad during his interview with the Service Selection Board. "I want to win Param Vir Chakra" replied the aspirant without mincing words. The interview boardmembers were surprised at this answer. The boy was none other than Capt Manoj Kumar Pandey who has been honoured with Param Vir Chakra posthumously for his gallant action during Kargil conflict. The unflinching committment, devotion to duty and leadership qualities that Capt Pandey displayed were inherent in him because he was groomed by the National Cadet Corps (NCC). This shows the important of NCC in churning out leaders for service for the country.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the brain behind setting up National Cadet Corps on July16, 1948. It took its cue from University Corps which was in being during that time to make up the shortage in the Army. Though NCC came into being on July 16, NCC Day is observed on the last Sunday of November every year because it was on that day in 1949 that the first unit raised in Delhi held a formal function presided over by Pandit Nehru.

Propelled by its motto—"Unity and Discipline"—NCC began playing its role in moulding youth of the country in the service of the nation. With a strength of mere 1.67 lakh cadets in the begining NCC has grown manifold over the years. It has 13 lakh cadets on its rolls now. At present, this vibrant youth organisation has 763 units right from the freezing heights of Leh in the north to Kutch in the west to Kohima in the east to Kanyakumari in the south in 4,958 colleges and 7,106 schools. The corps has inter services image since 1950 when the Air Wing was added followed by the Naval Wing in 1952. This is considered to be the largest uniformed youth organisation in the world.

The aims of NCC have been in tandem with the needs of the nation to develop character, comradeship, discipline, leadership, secular outlook, spirit of adventure and ideals of selfless service amongst the youth of the counry. NCC also creates a human resource of organised, trained and motivated youth and provides leadership for the service of the nation.

NCC has its headquarters in Delhi headed by Director General, Lt Gen BK Bopanna. It has 16 directorates covering all states and union territories. These directorates are headed by an officer of the rank of Brigadier or its equivalent from the other two services.

NCC has 92 Group Headquarters in the country controlling 647 Army Wing Units, 58 Naval Wing Units and 58 Air Squadrons. In additon, NCC has two training establishments.

Training in NCC is conducted through a three-tier system. In the first tier, around two thousand officers from the Army, Navy and Air Force and some Whole Time Officers (WTOs) and Whole Time Lady Officers (WTLOs) provide overall guidance for the conduct of training. In the second tier, over two thousand Associate NCC Officers (ANOs) from colleges and schools conduct training for student cadets. In the last leg, junior commissioned, non-commissioned officers in the Army or equivalents from Navy and Air Force constitute the ground staff for the conduct of institutional service training. They form the backbone of the entire programme.

NCC activities have undergone sea-change from its inception to the present day. From drill and weapons training, the ambit of NCC activities has been expanded considerabley to include community development and adventure. Republic Day Camp has been the flagship of all NCC activities. Held in January every year at Delhi Cantonment, this 29-day event provides a platform to 1800 cadets from across the country to display their skills. The President, Prime Minister and other top dignitaries visit the camp. Cadets from other countries also participate in the camp.