Indian Army to increase intake from National Cadet Corps

New Delhi, Jan 5 (IANS) Facing an acute shortage of officers, the Indian Army is now considering increasing intake from the National Cadets Corps (NCC) into the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun, a senior official said Monday.

NCC director general R.K. Karwal Tuesday said that the government could increase the intake of NCC cadets in IMA from 64 to 80. The IMA annually takes in upwards of 1,000 cadets in two batches.

'Alarmed over the shortfall of officers, the government is also likely to hike the intake of NCC 'C' certificate holders into the Officers Training Academy (OTA), Chennai, from 79 to 100,' he said while addressing a conference ahead of the NCC Republic Day Camp. The OTA takes in 600 cadets every year.

The army faces a shortage of around 11,200 officers.

Karwal added that since 2007, the NCC is working on a scheme to raise the enrolment of cadets, a majority of whom would be girls. The NCC strength would also go up from the present 1.3 million to 1.5 million in five years, he added.

Vice President Hamid Ansari will Jan 8 inaugurate the annual NCC Republic Day camp, in which 1,950 cadets from across the country will be participating. It will conclude with the Prime Minister's Rally Jan 29.