NATIONAL CADET CORPS (NCC) TRAINING: AN ALTERNATIVE TO COMPULSORY MILITARY TRAINING IN INDIA

Abstract: During the World Wars, many countries resorted to conscription, to rapidly increase the strength of the armed forces, to deal with the belligerent neighbours. Over a period of time, majority of the countries have stopped conscription as it causes a huge drain on the economy. But now, some of the nations such as Ukraine, do adopt conscription as they face the heat from Russian invasion. Since Independence, India did not follow any kind of conscription. Indian Army has always been an army of volunteers. Conscription not only builds physical strength but also builds nationalism and imbibes the spirit of patriotism. Some countries carry out some form of conscription such as Compulsory Military Training (CMT) to induce patriotism and build nationalism among the youth. In India, over a million students do undergo NCC training every year. But there is hardly any literature on the effects of NCC on nation building, especially in colleges running NCC in the southern India. The present study was conducted during December of 2022 with a sample of cadets, drawn from colleges of Tamil Nadu and analysed whether present NCC was a cheaper alternative method instead of the CMT, to impart nationalism and patriotism to the youth of the country. 368 NCC cadets and 368 Non NCC College students were contacted for gathering information for this study. This study found that the NCC training developed patriotic qualities such as character, selflessness and nationalism qualities, which are the main focus areas in CMT. Keywords: Compulsory Military Training (CMT), Conscription, Nationalism, Selflessness, Character, Patriotism, Soft skills, National Cadet Corps, NCC, Team Work, Self Confidence, Self-Reliance, Camaraderie, Leadership, Human Resource, Youth Organisation, National Integration, Employment Qualities. Title: NATIONAL CADET CORPS (NCC) TRAINING: AN ALTERNATIVE TO COMPULSORY MILITARY TRAINING IN INDIA Author: Chinnaraj Elavarasan, Dr. M. Selvam, Sakthivel Santhoshkumar International Journal of Recent Research in Commerce Economics and Management (IJRRCEM) ISSN 2349-7807 Vol. 12, Issue 3, July 2025 - September 2025 Page No: 32-43 Paper Publications Website: www.paperpublications.org Published Date: 08-September-2025 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17079702 Paper Download Link (Source) https://www.paperpublications.org/upload/book/NATIONAL%20CADET%20CORPS%20(NCC)%20TRAINING-08092025-7.pdf