The Crossbill News Desk
A recent audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has raised concerns over the performance of two key feeder institutions for the armed forces—the National Cadet Corps (NCC) and Sainik Schools—pointing out that both have fallen short of their intended role of supplying a steady stream of motivated youth to the military.
The audit report, tabled in Parliament during the recent winter session, noted that despite a substantial number of aspirants, as many as 38% of vacancies reserved for NCC cadets in the armed forces remained unfilled between 2019 and 2022.
It also highlighted a worrying pattern in the intake from Sainik Schools into the National Defence Academy (NDA), where selections showed a declining trend even as the overall number of Class XII students increased year after year.
The NCC, set up in 1948 to foster military-oriented values among young people and encourage them to join the armed forces, and the Sainik Schools, established in 1961 to prepare boys specifically for the NDA examination, were both found to be underperforming in meeting their core objectives.
Although the armed forces offer a Special Entry Scheme under which NCC ‘C’ certificate holders are directly called for the Services Selection Board (SSB), the CAG found that participation itself was limited.
According to the report, the appearance of candidates (both male and female) for SSB of NCC Special Entry Scheme was a mere 17.66% between 2019 to 2022.
The audit also referred to the Standing Committee on Defence (38th report, 2023-24), which had earlier pointed out persistent shortfalls. Between 2015 and 2019, the average shortfall in the selection of male cadets through the NCC special entry route stood at 32%.
“NCC had not given due weightage to train their cadets to become officers in the Armed Forces. There was no shortfall in the selection of female cadets against the reserved posts. However, the shortfalls in selection of male cadets during the period 2019-22 remained at similar levels, ranging from 27 to 48% (38% on average),” the report said.
A similar decline was observed in the performance of Sainik Schools. The CAG noted that the proportion of students from these schools joining the NDA had dropped over the years. The overall NDA intake from 25 Sainik Schools declined from 13.4% in 2019-20 to 10.57% in 2020-21, well below the annual target of 20%.
“Further in the year 2021-22, 120 cadets could only join the NDA against a target of intake of 250 cadets. Thus, during the last three years collectively, the Sainik Schools could achieve 9.7% success rate in the NDA,” the report said.
The audit took note of the Ministry of Defence’s response, which pointed to a longer-term increase in selections from Sainik Schools, stating that NDA intake from these institutions had risen from 15% in 2010 to about 25% around 2019-20.
However, the CAG maintained that these improvements did not negate existing gaps. While acknowledging better outcomes for female NCC cadets, the report concluded that shortcomings in achieving envisaged targets remain unresolved and that “further concrete measures are required to improve their performances.”
The audit report, tabled in Parliament during the recent winter session, noted that despite a substantial number of aspirants, as many as 38% of vacancies reserved for NCC cadets in the armed forces remained unfilled between 2019 and 2022.
It also highlighted a worrying pattern in the intake from Sainik Schools into the National Defence Academy (NDA), where selections showed a declining trend even as the overall number of Class XII students increased year after year.
The NCC, set up in 1948 to foster military-oriented values among young people and encourage them to join the armed forces, and the Sainik Schools, established in 1961 to prepare boys specifically for the NDA examination, were both found to be underperforming in meeting their core objectives.
Although the armed forces offer a Special Entry Scheme under which NCC ‘C’ certificate holders are directly called for the Services Selection Board (SSB), the CAG found that participation itself was limited.
According to the report, the appearance of candidates (both male and female) for SSB of NCC Special Entry Scheme was a mere 17.66% between 2019 to 2022.
The audit also referred to the Standing Committee on Defence (38th report, 2023-24), which had earlier pointed out persistent shortfalls. Between 2015 and 2019, the average shortfall in the selection of male cadets through the NCC special entry route stood at 32%.
“NCC had not given due weightage to train their cadets to become officers in the Armed Forces. There was no shortfall in the selection of female cadets against the reserved posts. However, the shortfalls in selection of male cadets during the period 2019-22 remained at similar levels, ranging from 27 to 48% (38% on average),” the report said.
A similar decline was observed in the performance of Sainik Schools. The CAG noted that the proportion of students from these schools joining the NDA had dropped over the years. The overall NDA intake from 25 Sainik Schools declined from 13.4% in 2019-20 to 10.57% in 2020-21, well below the annual target of 20%.
“Further in the year 2021-22, 120 cadets could only join the NDA against a target of intake of 250 cadets. Thus, during the last three years collectively, the Sainik Schools could achieve 9.7% success rate in the NDA,” the report said.
The audit took note of the Ministry of Defence’s response, which pointed to a longer-term increase in selections from Sainik Schools, stating that NDA intake from these institutions had risen from 15% in 2010 to about 25% around 2019-20.
However, the CAG maintained that these improvements did not negate existing gaps. While acknowledging better outcomes for female NCC cadets, the report concluded that shortcomings in achieving envisaged targets remain unresolved and that “further concrete measures are required to improve their performances.”
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