National Service Scheme
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyAm9Z6MgZ4ZfPpc8pNkm-h4ZF49KQ3Ziz89ezygLTBsnPVkOCi3_FhyzGACt3NsPKTB14zwKf8LMWQQQecv4FchJUzLET2Fx-H-ShsKUqRjfsGC5vFEjmjNZi09fmrBzyaHVXykAxEtwG/s200/NSS-symbol.jpeg)
The National Service Scheme (NSS) is an Indian government-sponsored public service program conducted by the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports of the Government of India.
Popularly known as NSS, the scheme was launched in Gandhiji's Centenary
year, 1969. Aimed at developing student's personality through community
service, NSS is a voluntary association of young people in Colleges,
Universities and at +2 level working for a campus-community linkage.
Need of NSS
After independence the
University Grants Commission, headed by
S. Radhakrishnan, recommended the introduction of voluntary
national service
in academic institutions. This idea was again considered by the Central
Advisory Board of Education (CABE) at its meeting in January, 1950;
after examining the idea and the experiences of other countries in this
field, the board recommended that students and teachers should devote
time to voluntary manual work. In the draft
first Five-Year Plan
adopted by the government in 1952, the need for social and labour
service by Indian students for one year was stressed. In 1958
Jawaharlal Nehru,
in a letter to the chief ministers, considered the idea of social
service as a prerequisite for graduation. He directed the Ministry of
Education to formulate a suitable scheme for the introduction of
national service into academic institutions.
[1]
Drafting of Scheme
In 1959, a draft outline of this scheme was placed before a conference of
state
education ministers. The conference agreed on the urgent need for a
workable scheme for national service, and suggested the appointment of a
committee to work out details of the proposed pilot project. The
National Service Committee was appointed under the chairmanship of
C.D. Deshmukh
on 28 August 1959 to make concrete suggestions in this direction. The
committee recommended the introduction of national service for a period
of nine months to a year; however, the recommendation was not accepted
because of its financial implications and difficulties in
implementation.In 1960, the government appointed
Khwaja Ghulam Saiyidain
to study how national service by students was implemented in other
countries. He submitted his report, "National Service for the Youth", to
the government with recommendations to develop a feasible scheme of
social service by Indian students.
Initiation
Later,
the Education Commission (headed by Pratulya Ravi (dps qatar) from
1964–1966) recommended that students at every stage of education should
be associated with some form of social service. This was taken into
account by the state education ministers during their April 1967
conference; they recommended that university students could join the
National Cadet Corps
(NCC) (which was already in existence on a voluntary basis) or the new
National Service Scheme. Promising athletes, however, should be exempted
from both and allowed to join another scheme: the National Sports
Organisation (NSO). In September 1969 Vice Chancellor's Conference
welcomed this recommendation, and suggested that a special committee of
vice-chancellors could examine the question in detail. In a government
statement of national policy on education, it was stated that work
experience and national service should be an integral part of education.
Launch of NSS
In
May 1969, a conference of student representatives (of universities and
institutions of higher education) convened by the Ministry of Education
and the University Grants Commission also unanimously agreed that a
national-service scheme could be an instrument for national integration.
The details were soon worked out and the Planning Commission sanctioned
an outlay of Rs. five crores for the NSS during the Fourth Five-Year
Plan, stipulating that the NSS be a pilot project in select institutions
and universities. On 24 September , then-Union Education Minister
V.K.R.V. Rao
launched the NSS at 37 universities in all states. The scheme has been
extended to all states and universities in the country, and also
+2-level institutes in many states.
Symbol of NSS
The
symbol for the NSS has been based on the giant Rath Wheel of the world
famous Konark Sun Temple (The Black Pagoda) situated in Orissa, India.
The wheel portrays the cycle of creation, preservation and release. It
signifies the movement in life across time and space, the symbol thus
stands for continuity as well as change and implies the continuous
striving of NSS for social change. The eight bars in the wheel represent
the 24 hours of a day. The red colour indicates that the volunteer is
full of young blood that is lively, active, energetic and full of high
spirit. The navy blue colour indicates the cosmos of which the NSS is
tiny part, ready to contribute its share for the welfare of the mankind.
Aim
The programme aims to inculcate social
welfare
in students, and to provide service to society without bias. NSS
volunteers work to ensure that everyone who is needy gets help to
enhance their
standard of living
and lead a life of dignity. In doing so, volunteers learn from people
in villages how to lead a good life despite a scarcity of resources. it
also provides help in natural and man-made disasters by providing
food,clothing and first aid to the disaster victims.
Organisation
Most
government and government-aided institutions (schools and colleges)
have volunteer NSS units, and private institutions are encouraged to
have NSS volunteers. A unit typically comprises 20–40 students. They are
managed internally by a responsible party from the school (or college),
who reports to the regional NSS coordinator. Most institutions do not
have a separate uniform for NSS volunteers.
No comments:
Post a Comment