Dhanusk Kumar, student of Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management, has dreamt of being the ‘man in uniform’. Son of a retired chief petty officer, Kumar has already begun preparing for the process. Rather than studying for the Service Selection Board exams, he is undergoing training in National Cadets Corps.
Headquartered in New Delhi, the NCC is a tri-services organisation which includes Army, Navy and Airforce. It offers A, B and C certificate to the cadets who pass the written and parade test.
Having cleared the B certificate exam, Kumar is now preparing for the C certificate exam. Kumar is one of the 600 cadets at the Combined Annual Training Camp being held at Andhra University here from June 20 to 29.
"Any candidate who has a C certificate is exempted from the written exam which is mandatory to get inducted into armed forces. These candidates are directly called for the interview. On passing the interview, they are put through an intense medical examination before getting admitted," says Colonel Amit Sharma, in-charge of the camp.
The issuing C certificate was introduced to recognise those who completed extremely well their grooming as patriotic and disciplined cadets.
Apart from getting entry into the armed forces the certificate also gives them extra weightage for recruitment as police personnel. “ They also get additional preference for selection for other government jobs. A few medical and engineering seats are reserved for a NCC cadets with a C certificate.
The B certificate that the cadets get after two years of training also helps them attain leverage among applicants while taking admissions for engineering,” adds Colonel Sharma. The certificates are given to cadets over a period of three years. A minimum of 75 % attendance at their educational institute, at least one NCC camp in a year and passing of yearly exams conducted by the NCC are the prerequisites for a certificate.