 "NCC cadets enthused after PM announces plan for expansion in border, coasts")
Scores of cadets who attended the Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort on Saturday expressed great excitement after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the government's plan to expand the NCC in border and coastal areas.
In his address from the ramparts of the Red Fort, the prime minister said that keeping in mind development of youth in border and coastal areas, the government is going to expand the National Cadet Corps (NCC) for them.
"We are going to train around one lakh new cadets and efforts will be made to ensure one-third of those are girls," Modi said.
He said there are around 173 districts in border and coastal areas.
"In border areas, the army will train the cadets. In coastal areas, the Navy will train them. And where there are airbases, the Air Force will impart training to these cadets. This way, border and coastal areas will get trained manpower to combat disasters. And, youths will also acquire necessary skills for careers in armed forces," the prime minister said.
Hundreds of NCC cadets, boys from various schools and young men from colleges drawn from different parts of Delhi, who sat on chairs placed in a neat pattern adhering to social distancing norms, cheered when Modi made the announcement for expansion.
They were dressed in a saffron t-shirt bearing the NCC logo and a green pair of trousers and sported a white cap, reflecting the colours of the national flag.
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The NCC currently has 17 directorates, and members of the Delhi Directorate from different battalions were present at the event that was scaled down in view of the COVID-19 situation.
Kapil Chaudhary, 20, a student of the Delhi University's Shyam Lal College, said, "We are very happy to hear about the expansion plan for the NCC in coastal and border areas".
"It is needed and we would get to serve in those areas if the opportunity arises," said Chaudhary, an army cadet.
Sixteen-year-old Vikram, a Class 8 student from Kalkaji, was excited too after hearing the announcement by the prime minister.
"I am in school but I know the kind of training NCC provides that equips us to respond to disasters and natural calamities by using our skills. Now we hope after expansion we would get to travel to the border and coastal areas," he said.
Ankit, 20, also of Shyam Lal College termed the decision a "welcome step".
"We will have more trained manpower and one-third of that will be girls, which is even better. Recently, we saw in the film 'Gunjan Saxena' that women have fought a tough battle for equality in defence forces," he said.
In January, NCC Director-General Lt Gen Rajeev Chopra said that the sanctioned strength of the corps is 14.6 lakh and 13.5 lakh cadets have been enrolled.
"The target is to reach the 15 lakh target by 2022. Also, we wish to take the current girl cadets strength from 31.86 per cent to 33 per cent by 2022," he had said.
Nikhil Kumar, 17, a school student from Shashtri Park area, said it was his second time at the Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort.
"What moved me was the prime minister's call to become self-reliant. As he said, we are a country of 130 crore people. There's nothing that's out of our reach. We have been importing technology from developed countries, it's time we took a step towards becoming a developed nation," he said.