NCC in Maharashtra has no academy of its own, 40 to 60 per cent of administrative posts vacant
The NCC is growing fast in Maharashtra, but buildings, training facilities and staff are falling short, its Director General said in Pune.
The reach of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) is growing rapidly in Maharashtra, but the buildings, facilities and staff it needs are still inadequate. The state has about 1.5 lakh cadets and seven groups, and more than 2,500 schools and colleges are affiliated to the NCC. Even so, there is no separate training academy for each group.
About 20,000 cadets of the Pune group depend on whatever space schools and colleges can offer for training. In addition, 40 to 60 per cent of administrative posts at group and unit level are vacant, so the expansion of the NCC faces a double difficulty.
NCC Director General Lt Gen Virendra Vats visited the Pune group headquarters on Wednesday (September 30). He reviewed training, staff and basic facilities. Speaking to reporters afterwards, he said training facilities were not keeping pace with the rate at which the NCC was expanding in the country. Major General Vivek Tyagi, Additional Director General of the Maharashtra Directorate, was also present.
Against the backdrop of "Viksit Bharat 2047", the nature of NCC training is also changing. Alongside traditional drill and physical training, the emphasis is now on skills such as cyber security, drone technology, personality development, leadership, medical thinking and disaster management. But the laboratories, training rooms and permanent facilities needed for this are lacking, which has put a limit on expansion.
Lt Gen Vats said the Pune group has about 20,000 cadets and no separate academy for them. Camps therefore have to be held on school or college campuses, depending on the space available. As a result, a facility for continuous training cannot be built at one place. There are 102 NCC groups in the country and each needs a separate academy. An academy needs roughly 10 to 15 acres of land, and could house accommodation, classrooms, a drill ground, physical training facilities, a drone training centre and a cyber lab. According to Vats, talks are on with the state government about providing the land needed for Maharashtra.
Maj Gen Tyagi said seven NCC groups are working in Maharashtra, so each should have its own training academy. The state's first NCC academy was inaugurated in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar last year. But it will run at full capacity only after funds and the necessary facilities are provided. It is expected to start functioning in the next two years.
Cyber defender courses have been started in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Pune and Mumbai. Drone training centres are being set up in Nagpur and Mumbai. This new training needs separate laboratories, equipment and training rooms, which makes academies all the more important.
The administrative structure is also under strain. In the state, 40 to 60 per cent of posts at group and unit level are vacant. The NCC operates across about 1.5 lakh cadets, 2,500 schools and colleges and 36 districts. Besides trainers, it needs clerks, drivers and other administrative staff. Tyagi said permanent recruitment has not been held for a long time and staff are being hired on contract in many places. Renewing the appointments of contract staff also requires repeated administrative follow-up.
About 140 to 150 senior officers of the Army, Navy and Air Force are working in the NCC, but there is too little administrative staff to assist them. Staff, funds and administrative matters at group and unit level fall under the state government. Providing training facilities and staff in proportion to the growing number of cadets is therefore a major challenge for the state.
