NCC cadets return with two medals from Republic Day camp in New Delhi

Coimbatore: The atmosphere at the back entrance of the Coimbatore Railway Junction turned joyful when a group of National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets alighted from the Kovai Express on Tuesday afternoon.
The 39 uniformed cadets, who shouted jubilant slogans and flashed the sign of victory, were from the local schools and colleges and were among the 111 cadets from Tamil Nadu, who represented the state at the Republic Day parade at Rajpath, New Delhi and the cultural performances that followed as part of the Republic Day Camp.

The Tamil Nadu directorate had come second in the Republic Day Camp and the Coimbatore Group had, for the fourth consecutive year, been selected for the chief minister’s banner in the state-level.

Four cadets from the state had won gold medals for the best cadets in the Army category, one cadet won silver in the Air Force category and one won bronze in the Navy category.

Of these, one gold and one silver were bagged by cadets from the city, said Col Peter Celestine, commander of NCC Coimbatore Group.

The Coimbatore group comprises seven districts, including Coimbatore, the Nilgiris, Erode and Dharmapuri. There are 21,000 cadets from 280 schools and colleges in the Coimbatore group.

Seventeen NCC groups from across the country participated in the Republic Day Camp, which had month-long competitions and tests. “The Karnataka team came first and Tamil Nadu second. But the Tamil Nadu team had won an overall of 11 trophies, more than that of the winning team,” said Celestine.

The competitions were held in several disciplines such as drill, firing, cultural, public speaking and writing. For the prestigious Republic Day parade at Rajpath, 20 cadets from Tamil Nadu were nominated. All of them were selected and participated in the parade.

Junior cadet Sangini Singh, 14, who won the gold medal for the best cadet, said she had participated in cultural events such as group dance, ballet and the national integration awareness programme. “I got the medal and a baton from the Prime Minister. The practice goes back to when the former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru handed over a baton to the best NCC cadet,” said Sangini, a Class IX student at Lawrence School, Lovedale, the Nilgiris.

Cadet Steffy Mary Thomas, who participated in the cultural events at the Republic Day Camp, said it provided an opportunity to meet and bond with people from other states. “It was also an opportunity to take our culture to people from the other states and know about their culture,” said Thomas, a second year BSc Zoology student in Nirmala College for Women.

The sweltering afternoon sun didn’t bother the cadets and their proud parents, as they expressed their joy and thanked the group commanders and wing commanders.