Complete academy construction in two years, NCC tells Guj govt

The National Cadet Corps has sought the financial support of the Gujarat government for the early construction of its academy here, the foundation stone for which was laid yesterday.

The NCC academy is coming up in Mavdi here and will be the second in the state after the one at Rajpipla, officials said.

In an official release, the NCC said the academy is a long standing demand to train cadets from the state's Saurashtra and Kutch regions.

"The requirement of an academy for NCC cadets of Saurashtra and Kutch has been a long standing one. The initial project cost was Rs 110 crore which was later reworked to Rs 47 crore and then to Rs 37 crore," the release said.

"The state government should take up the construction of the academy on top priority by releasing funds to complete it in a two-year time-frame," the release quoted Major General Subhash Sharan, Additional Director General NCC Gujarat, as saying.

He said that the academy would help youth in the region to join the armed forces and added that over 30,000 cadets from Saurashtra would benefit.

The release quoted him as saying that the academy would be open for 300 days a year to impart rigorous training in small arms firing, physical training, field craft, battle drills, map reading and personality development among others.

The state government had allotted 14 acres of land for the academy 15 years ago but its foundation stone could be laid only yesterday after it released a fund of Rs 20 lakh for the initial phase, said officials.