New Delhi: National Cadet Corps (NCC) volunteer cadets are helping civil administration by working shoulder to shoulder with civil, defence and police personnel under ‘Exercise NCC Yogdan’ in fight against Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic since April 01, 2020. Around 2,000 cadets have already been employed in 12 states and union territories with maximum deployment in Tamil Nadu where 306 of them are performing various duties. This number is increasing by the day.
As the lockdown continues, more and more states are in the process of requisitioning NCC cadets for various tasks. Headquarters Directorate General NCC is monitoring the number of cadets volunteering for the cause. Around 50,000 cadets have so far volunteered to contribute in ‘Exercise NCC Yogdan’.
Volunteer NCC cadets above 18 years and are from Senior Division (For boy cadets) and Senior Wing (For girl cadets) are being employed for these duties. The cadets are voluntarily contributing to the cause. It is ensured that the cadets are trained and properly briefed about the tasks before being deployed.
The state machinery is ensuring that all the cadets are provided with proper safety equipment like masks, gloves, etc during their deployment. The cadets are being employed under the supervision of Officers, Junior Commissioned Officers, PI staff and ANOs of NCC to ensure safety and security of the cadets. They are not being employed in areas which are sealed or are earmarked as hotspots by the respective state governments.
The cadets are deployed for various duties like, traffic management, supply chain management, preparation and packaging of food items, distribution of food and essential items, queue management, social distancing, manning control centres and CCTV control rooms. Apart from this, NCC cadets are sensitising the public against COVID-19 by sending messages on social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp, etc.
The NCC has once again come to the fore by providing its unstinted support to the Nation when it matters the most. It is approximately 14 lakh head-strong today and has a reach throughout the country, with its 17 directorates cover all the 29 states and nine union territories. These directorates are further divided into 99 groups and 826 units, thus ensuring availability of cadets to the district administration in all the states. As the instructions have reached various district headquarters, to utilise the cadets for logistics and supply chain management duties, the district administration is seeking their support, by requisitioning them from the NCC directorates.
