National Cadet Corps as elective subject to benefit 4.9 lakh students in Punjab, Himachal, Chandigarh colleges

Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 11

Following the University Grants Commission (UGC) allowing students to take up National Cadet Corps (NCC) as an elective subject in colleges, the regional NCC Directorate has started the process for implementing the new policy from the forthcoming academic session.

The introduction of the subject is expected to benefit nearly 4.9 lakh students in 483 institutions located in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, including those from border areas, where additional cadet strength has been authorised as part of the overall Border Areas Expansion Plan.

“The underlying idea behind the move is to motivate students of educational institutions to join NCC and instil in them discipline, camaraderie and patriotism,” Major General JS Sandhu, Additional Director-General, Punjab, Haryana Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh NCC Directorate said here on Friday.

Guidelines issued by UGC to Vice-Chancellors of all universities in April 2021 state that NCC is to be considered a General Elective Credit Course (GECC) in response to the proposal that had been mooted by the Directorate General NCC.

The syllabus for NCC ‘B’ and ‘C’ certificates is designed as per the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) of the National Education Policy – 2020, which grants 24 credit points covering six semesters.

The move agrees with this policy where students can select their choice of subjects, rather than being confined to only those being offered by the institutions.

Core teams have been created by the directorate with a dedicated officer at Chandigarh to ensure that the policy is implemented within a realistic time frame.

Most universities in the region have already expressed their willingness to implement the UGC guidelines.