ABOUT NSS

National Service Scheme

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.