SHILLONG, July 25 - Director General of the National Cadet Corps, Lt Gen Vinod Vashisht today said that cadet strength of the region would be increased.
�We are planning to enhance the cadet strength around 30 per cent so that they can offer more services to the North-east,� he said while interacting with a group of reporters here today.�
The Director General said that efforts are on to broaden the reach of the NCC in the remote corners of the north-eastern region. Out of the 108 districts of the region, six still do not have any NCC activity.
The NCC was raised through an Act of the Parliament, 1948. After the 1962 war with China, NCC training was made compulsory in schools and colleges in 1963, but in 1968 it was again made voluntary. NCC is for students of schools and colleges and there are over 13 lakh active NCC cadets in the country.�
Vashisht also informed that Youth Exchange Programmes of the NCC with foreign nations have now been confined to 11 countries only. All these exchange programmes are with regional countries and other countries where �India�s national interests lie.�
For example, he said, there is an exchange programme with Russia and one with Kazakhstan. Other exchange programmes are with the neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and others.
�The exchange programme with Canada is no longer available. We don�t have a youth exchange programme with China. Perhaps in the future we would have one,� he stated.
In this regard, a unit of the NCC has been opened recently at a remote area bordering Tibet. �We are trying to open more such NCC units in the North-east so that the youths of the region can take benefit,� he informed.
