Two all-female NCC contingents to participate in R-Day Parade

NCC will send two all-female contingents in the Republic Day Parade this year and increase the overall strength of women in the Corps to 33 per cent, an official said.

Addressing the annual news conference, Lt Gen Aniruddha Chakravarty, who is the Director General of the National Cadet Corps, said 2,069 cadets, including 695 girls have participated in the NCC camp this year. “Of this, one all-male contingent and all-female contingent with a strength of 148 each will participate in the Republic Day Parade. Plus, one all-male band of 90 cadets and all-female band of 45 cadets will also participate in the Republic Day Parade,” Chakravarty said.

The NCC has also planned an initiative to send its female cadets to conquer Mt Everest peak this year while a group of 91 international cadets from seven countries will also visit India as a part of the Youth Exchange Programme. The government is already in the process of raising new NCC units in the coastal areas in the west along with in areas affected by left-wing extremism and insurgency besides those bordering Pakistan and China in a five-phase programme.  “Two phases are over and nearly 40,000 cadets were enrolled in NCC in these two phases. In the third phase, we plan to add 40,000 cadets. The plan is to enroll 2 lakh cadets under the programme and increase the strength from existing 13 lakh cadets.

 We also intend to increase the strength of women cadets into the force to 33 per cent under the programme,” Lt Col Pratik Saxena said.