Defence Minister Rajnath Singh conferred Raksha Mantri Padak and Commendation Cards to NCC Cadets during his visit to NCC Republic Day Camp 2021 for their exemplary performance and devotion to duty at an impressive ‘Investiture Ceremony’, held at the NCC Republic Day Camp 2021 at Delhi Cantt.

Singh was received by the Director-General National Cadet Corps, 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 to the Defence Minister.

Raksha Mantri 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. This year the Raksha Mantri Padak has been awarded to SUO Prashant Kumar Tiwari of Bihar & Jharkhand Directorate and Lt Cdr Jitendra Pal Singh of Uttar Pradesh Directorate.

Raksha Mantri 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 their contribution as frontline Corona Warriors through Ex ‘Yogdan’ in which 1,39,961 cadets and 21,380  staff from all over the country participated in the 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 etc.

He also praised NCC for taking up an initiative towards digitization by launching of NCC Training App and Digital Forum for benefits of all its cadets and associate NCC officers.

Talking about the expansion of NCC by One Lac cadets in the Border and Coastal Areas announced by PM Modi on 15 August 2020, the Defence Minister expressed his happiness and complimented NCC for completing the target of enrolment of One Lac cadets in a short span of time in 1104 Schools and Colleges in the Border and Coastal Areas.

He also complimented the NCC fraternity for making invaluable contributions towards Digital India, Atmanirbhar Bharat, National integration and Nation Building through multifarious activities of the NCC. 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.