New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited the National Cadet Corps (NCC) Republic Day Camp 2021 on January 21 and conferred Raksha Mantri Padak and Commendation Cards to NCC Cadets for their exemplary performance and devotion to duty at an impressive ‘Investiture Ceremony’ held at Delhi Cantonment in New Delhi.

Singh was received by the Director General NCC Lieutenant General Tarun Kumar Aich. A contingent of smartly turned out NCC cadets drawn from the three wings namely Army, Navy and Air Force, presented an impressive Guard of Honour.

Raksha Mantri Padak has been awarded to Senior Under Officer (SUO) Prashant Kumar Tiwari of Bihar & Jharkhand Directorate and Lt Commander Jitendra Pal Singh of Uttar Pradesh Directorate. The Padak was instituted in 1989. Since then it is awarded to the most deserving cadet every year for bravery or exceptional service of the highest order. Defence Minister Commendation Cards have also been awarded to Lt Shivani Sharma of Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh Directorate, SUO Shreeshma Hegde of Karnataka & Goa Directorate, Cadet Syed Shajeed, West Bengal & Sikkim Directorate and Senior GCI Neeva Singh of Delhi Directorate.

In his address, Singh complimented the NCC for its contribution as frontline Corona Warriors through ‘Exercise NCC Yogdan’ in which 1,39,961 cadets and 21,380 staff from all over the country participated in prevention of COVID-19 pandemic by taking up various activities like traffic management, distribution of food and essential items, queue management, preparation and distribution of mask to needy people also praised NCC for taking up initiative towards digitisation by launching NCC Training App and Digital Forum for benefit of all its cadets and associate NCC officers.

Referring to the expansion of NCC by one lakh cadets in the border and coastal areas announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the rampart of Red Fort on August 15 last year, Defence Minister expressed his happiness and complimented NCC for completing the target of enrollment of one lakh cadets in a short span of time in 1,104 schools and colleges in the border and coastal areas.

Singh also complimented the NCC fraternity, for making invaluable contributions towards Digital India, Atmanirbhar Bharat, National integration and Nation Building, through multifarious activities. He said that the NCC is doing a yeoman service to the nation by transforming the youth of the Nation into a cohesive and disciplined force.