National Cadet Corps

The NCC (National Cadet Corps) is the largest uniformed student organisation in the world. In 1917 the British government raised the University Corps to make up the shortage of men in the army; when the Indian Territorial Act was passed in 1920 it became the University Training Corps, and in 1942 the University Officers Training Corps.

During the Second World War the corps did not answer expectations, which led to the thought that young people should be trained better, and in peacetime too. A committee under Pandit Hriday Nath Kunzru recommended founding an organisation to train students in schools and colleges across the country. The proposal was accepted by the Governor-General on 15 July 1948, and the National Cadet Corps came into being.

In 1949 a Girls Division was founded so that girls in schools and colleges should have the same opportunity. An Air Wing followed in 1950 and a Naval Wing in 1952. After the war of 1962 NCC training was made compulsory for all, but in 1968 it was made voluntary again.