Pune: Infrastructure gaps pose a challenge to the expansion of National Cadet Corps (NCC) training in Maharashtra, as the state lacks a fully operational dedicated training academy despite having nearly 1.5 lakh cadets.
“Pune does not have a dedicated academy. Dedicated infrastructure is required to support these programmes. Some academies are already operational, while work is underway at several other locations.
The Pune NCC Group alone has around 20,000 cadets and currently relies on available facilities at schools and colleges for training. There are 102 NCC groups across the country and around 100 dedicated academies are required, according to Vats. An NCC academy generally requires 10 to 15 acres of land, where hostels, classrooms, parade grounds, physical training facilities, drone training centres and cyber laboratories can be developed.
Therefore, training must be conducted using facilities available at schools and colleges, which makes it difficult to maintain continuity,” Vats said.
He said NCC training is expanding beyond conventional drills and physical training to include cyber security, drone technology, leadership, personality development, disaster management and social service. NCC Director General Lt Gen Virendra Vats, who reviewed NCC activities during his visit to Pune on Wednesday, said the lack of dedicated training facilities makes it difficult to provide continuous and specialised training to cadets.
Earlier reporting noted: Pune: Maharashtra , one of the country’s largest and consistently high-performing National Cadet Corps (NCC) directorates with nearly 1.5 lakh cadets, does not have any dedicated NCC academy, senior NCC officers said on Wednesday. Maharashtra therefore required seven academies where we could train at least 1,000 cadets at a time,” he said.
“Discussions are underway with the Maharashtra government regarding the establishment of such facilities,” he said. Maharashtra has seven NCC groups and requires a dedicated academy for each group, said Maj Gen Vivek Tyagi, Additional Director General, Maharashtra Directorate, NCC. Earlier reporting noted: Tyagi said Maharashtra required seven dedicated NCC academies, corresponding to its seven NCC group headquarters.
Earlier reporting noted: “As per the NCC Act, it was mandatory for the state govt to establish an academy for each group headquarters.
The NCC is also facing a shortage of administrative manpower in the state, with 40% to 60% of posts at the group and unit levels lying vacant, officials said. The NCC has a presence across all 36 districts of Maharashtra, covering around 2,500 schools and colleges and nearly 1.5 lakh cadets. “The state’s first NCC academy at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar was inaugurated last year, but it is yet to become fully operational due to pending requirements related to funds and facilities.
It is expected to become operational within the next two years,” Tyagi said.
