NEW DELHI: National Cadet Corps has offered its volunteer cadets for national duty to fight COVID-19. The Exercise has been code named ‘Ex NCC Yogdan’ and guidelines for temporary employment of the cadets has already been issued.
The Ministry of Defence on Thursday said, “National Cadet Corps (NCC) has offered a helping hand to civilian authorities in the country’s fight against COVID-19 by extending the services of cadets under ‘Exercise NCC Yogdan’.” and added, “It has issued guidelines for temporary employment of its cadets to augment relief efforts and functioning of various agencies involved in battling the pandemic.”
Only Senior Division volunteer cadets above 18 years of age will be employed. They should be employed in small cohesive groups of eight to 20 under the supervision of Permanent Instructor Staff or/and an Associate NCC Officer.
So far around 47,000 cadets have volunteered informed the sources.
The tasks envisaged for NCC cadets include, manning of helpline/call centres; distribution of relief materials/medicines/ food/essential commodities; community assistance; data management and queue & traffic management. According to the guidelines, cadets should not be employed in handling of law and order situation or for active military duties or at hot spots.
For employment of volunteer cadets, State governments /district administration has to send the requisition through State NCC Directorates. Details will be coordinated at Directorate/Group Headquarters/Unit level with state government/local civil authority. Before the cadets are deployed for the duty, ground conditions and laid down requirements are to be ensured.
NCC is the biggest youth organisation with cadet strength of 14 lakh having its presence all across the country. The cadets come from about 16,000 educational institutions including the high schools, higher secondary, colleges and universities enrolled with it. NCC is headquartered in Delhi with 17 Directorates in State Capitals, which cover every district with 825 Units under 99 Group Centres. The Cadets train into tri-Services format comprising the Army, Navy and Air Wing.
The NCC, which operates under Ministry of Defence has been engaged in conducting various social service and community development activities. The NCC cadets have been contributing to the national cause during natural calamities like floods, cyclone, etc since its inception.