The National Cadet Corps has decided to cease additional enrolment of candidates in West Bengal for the 2022-23 fiscal year due to an alleged lack of budgetary support by the state government, an official said.
Over 41,000 cadets who have been already enrolled in the NCC, a youth development movement managed by the armed forces which is open to all regular students of schools and colleges on a voluntary basis, will not be able to undergo camps, the official said.
"The state governments fund 25 per cent for the camps, while the Centre provides 75 per cent,” another NCC official said.
Relentless efforts
The NCC additional director general in charge of West Bengal and Sikkim directorate, major general U S Sengupta, in a letter to the director general of NCC said that despite "relentless efforts and correspondence at various levels" of the state government, the budget allocation to West Bengal NCC by the state government has remained unchanged.
"Enrolment of cadets in this training year is being ceased till additional funds as projected by this directorate to the state government are made available," major general Sengupta said in the letter dated October 6.
Major Dr BB Singh, the spokesperson for NCC's West Bengal and Sikkim directorate here, said on Wednesday that the Bengal government has allocated Rs 80 lakh in 2022-23, while there is a requirement of another Rs 3 crore.
The total requirement is Rs 10 crore, including the infrastructure development of an academy at Kalyani in Nadia district, Singh said.
The careers of the cadets would be disadvantaged if they are unable to complete their training and examinations, the spokesperson said.
The NCC also provides exposure to cadets in a wide range of activities, with a distinct emphasis on social services and discipline.
The logistics
Major general Sengupta pointed out in the letter that the total number of West Bengal cadets to undergo CATCs (combined annual training camp) out of the authorised strength of 95,120 for the state is 54,324 in the current financial year.
While 6,586 cadets have already undergone CATCs out of the total enrolled, another 6,400 can undergo CATCs with the remaining budgetary outlay, it said.
"The total number of WB cadets who will be left without a camp and thus rendering them ineligible for B and C certificate examinations — 41,068," the letter said.
Stating that the total requirement of additional camps would be 103 to cater to the requirement, it said that 75 per cent of the enrolled candidates will not be able to undergo camps and hence will be ineligible for attending NCC B and C certificate camps.
Noting that since the directorate is not able to train even the already enrolled cadets, the letter said that enrolment of cadets for the year 2022-23 is being ceased till the additional fund is made available.
Singh said that for the B certificate, a cadet has to attend one camp and for the C certificate he/she has to attend at least two camps.