In the relentless fight against the coronavirus pandemic, more than 2,000 National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets are now assisting the civil administration in various States and nearly 50,000 more cadets are on the standby if the national effort has to be ramped up in the coming days. This apart, more than 5,000 ex-servicemen are also pitching in the endeavour.
Giving details of the deployment of the NCC cadets, defence ministry officials said here on Saturday the cadets above the age of 18 are working shoulder to shoulder with civil, defence and police personnel in 12 States. The maximum deployment of the cadets is in Tamil Nadu.
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 Yogdaan’.
Volunteer NCC cadets above 18 years and 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 and gloves during their deployment. The cadets are being employed under the supervision of Officers and Junior Commissioned Officers 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 is 14-lakh strong 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.