To understand the grievances and complaints of NCC cadets with the current NCC management and initiate a dialogue on the same, Vox Populi conducted a survey of students enrolled in NCC this year and received 175 responses. While most students raised grave concerns about class timings, insensitivity of the colonel, unproductive classes and condition of uniforms, others found these complaints absurd and unfair to raise. Here are our detailed findings-
Time related problems
According to the official schedule of classes approved by DoSA and SPEC, the time of the NCC classes must be 0840-1140 hours (3 hours).
However, two major problems exist-
1. NCC office plans classes generally from 0820 to 1140 hours (3 hrs 20 mins), as specified in emails sent by NCC office. On certain days, the class timings are even beyond that. For example, according to an NCC email, the class on 8th February was planned from 0810 to 1210 hours, which is a substantial-60 minutes more than the approved NCC time(i.e. 0840-1140 hours- 3 hrs).
2. NCC classes get delayed, even beyond the already increased time mentioned in the email sent out.
When we asked NCC cadets if the classes end on time, only 4% of the 175 respondents said that the classes ‘always end on time.’ An overwhelming 57.1% respondents think that the classes ‘always get delayed’ and 31.4% respondents think that the classes ‘often get delayed.’
Apart from the extended lectures/drill time, a major chunk of the delay can be attributed to a long time spent in taking attendance.
We asked NCC students to choose, which of the following is closest to the time spent in taking attendance: >60, 60, 45, 30, 15 and <15 minutes. An alarming 95.4 percent cadets think that NCC spends 30 minutes or more in taking attendance.
This extremely alarming waste of NCC cadets’ time can be reasoned to ‘poor crowd control,’ practice of taking attendance twice for each class and pen-and-paper attendance mode, instead of the institute-wide standard of biometric attendance.
Hence, planning classes for more than the time approved, extending classes beyond the time planned and spending unreasonably high amounts of time in conducting attendance are the key time-related problems students face with NCC.
Issues with the Instructor
A number of incidents we received have highlighted insensitivity and lack of empathy from the NCC colonel towards issues faced by the cadets. Some of the incidents that our respondents mentioned were-
1. In an NCC activity, the cadets were asked to come on stage and speak on a particular topic for about 2 minutes in English. A student, who wasn’t fluent in English was forced to speak. When he tried to speak in English, the colonel asked, ‘What was your score in CBSE English Exam in 12th Standard?’ The student replied that he got 86 marks. The colonel reportedly said, ‘Ye hai CBSE ke checking ka level!’
2. A number of our respondents said that when they asked the colonel for an exemption from physical activities due to medical conditions/injuries, backed by HC prescription as proof, not only were they denied such exemptions, but also were treated hurtfully with remarks like ‘get lost’ and ‘I don’t care.’ In a shocking incident during the class of 1st February, the colonel unwilling to listen, and allegedly threw away a cadet’s HC booklet in front of the entire class. The student reportedly felt insulted and scared after the incident. In another case, a student, who had an appointment with an opthamologist in HC, requested the colonel to allow him to leave about 15 minutes earlier. The colonel denied permission, leaving the student with no option but to defer his eye checkup as the opthamologist is only available on Saturday mornings, when the student has NCC classes and he cannot afford another holiday.
3. At least 8 of our respondents told us about incidences where they were marked as absent because they came to the class in civil clothes, since their uniform was damaged or unavailable in their size. In one of the cases, the student talked to the NCC staff about his uniform before the class started, and the staff empathising with his problem, allowed him to attend the class. However, after about an hour when the colonel came to the class, he asked the student to leave the class for not wearing a uniform. The student told the colonel that his staff had allowed him. The colonel was unwilling to listen to the student, said that he doesn’t care what the staff says and asked him to leave.
4. While the colonel is not bound to allow exemptions in any of the above cases, these allegedly repeated instances of mocking and ridiculing students might be concerning.
While over half of our respondents (54.9%) find the behaviour of the NCC colonel too harsh and unjustified, a significant share (almost a quarter) of our respondents think that the NCC colonel is strict and polite but not harsh. Another 18.9% respondents think that while the behaviour of the NCC colonel is harsh, it is justified.
According to one of the respondents, “I found that everyone of us (including me) is indisciplined and openly defies orders. The colonel is right to inculcate the attitude of an army man to dress and groom ourselves properly and learn how to obey and bring objection to orders.”
Other Issues
A lot of respondents raised the issue of the uniforms issued by NCC, which apparently are torn/damaged and seem to be very old. When we asked our respondents to rate the condition of their NCC uniform out of 5, we received an average rating of 2.019 on 5. While some students faced problems like unavailability of the uniform in their size, some respondents found the issue of uniform ‘absurd’ and said that ‘if someone has a problem, they can buy a new one from the market as is done in NCC elsewhere.’
A large number of our respondents felt that the NCC lectures are highly unproductive. When asked to rate the productivity of the lectures on a scale of 1-5 (1 being highly unproductive, and 5 being highly productive), 41.7% of the respondents gave it a rating of 1, while another 23.4% chose 2. Only 11.5% of people thought that the lectures were somewhat productive, thereby expressing the sentiment that the lectures were largely unproductive and students hardly learnt anything. However, some of our respondents appreciated the Leadership Lecture series and found them ‘motivating.’
A respondent pointed out that the IIT Kanpur chapter of NCC does not fit in with the objective behind the PE course, as it neither leads to any sort of personality development, nor is it any form of physical exercise. Another issue with NCC has been lack of proper email communication. A lot of students haven’t been receiving emails about class timings and hence, often miss their classes. When lack of information about class was presented by some students as their justification for being absent, the colonel said that it isn’t NCC’s responsibility to send email as a notice had been put and email sent were only for convenience, while notice is the primary means of communication.
NCC at other IITs
Vox reached out to a couple of our sister IITs to get the perspective of cadets at their respective NCC camps. A few important points were put forward in the feedback, A cadet from NCC at IIT Delhi stated that “Taking up NCC is a totally optional and only about 40 out of 1200 student take up NCC” he also mentioned how the uniforms of the cadets were tailored to their sizes and were provided by the NCC Office. Another point that was clearly stated was that all the time during the NCC hours were spent training as cadets. A cadet from IIT Bombay also provided feedback stating how the cadets were provided lectures on relevant cadet training and that the NCC hours were spent in a manner that involved cadet training as well as sports training. A discipline perk that was followed was that every cadet that arrived late was made to push ups.
NCC at our sister IITs somehow paints a significantly different picture from the NCC CPA at IITK. Even though the NCC Offices at different institutes might operate independently but a lot of improvisations could be implemented to provide a better and wholesome NCC experience for the cadets at IITK.
Suggestions
The NCC office did not reply to our email asking for their response to the above mentioned complaints. Nevertheless, here are some suggestions we received from our respondents for NCC, IIT Kanpur-
1. Respecting Students’ Time– The time table of the classes must be followed strictly, in line with that approved by the SPEC. Unacceptably large amounts of time wasted in the process of taking attendance, may be reduced with the help of biometric attendance and more efficient management. Also, currently, cadets are taken to NCC office (from lecture halls/PE ground) just to conduct attendance. This wastes a lot of time in transit which may be saved.
2. Change/Improvement in NCC Leadership– NCC IITK Chapter requires a leadership which listens to students’ issues, takes in feedback and is more empathetic about it.
3. Channel to Raise Complaints- A channel must be provided (through DoSA/SPEC/NCC) to raise complaints anonymously, given the absurd incidences of inhumane and unacceptable behaviour of the colonel. Currently, while the students are highly dissatisfied, there is hardly anything they can do about it as they are scared that the colonel would fail them if they speak against him.
4. No student must be forced to take NCC involuntarily, due to lack of seats in other CPA. In the words of one of our respondents, “most of the students are literally pushed to do something, do not choose it and hence come to the classes unwillingly. Therefore it is being taken for granted.”
5. Providing better/newer uniforms– Torn pants/shirts, pants with missing zips and shirts with missing buttons must be replaced/repaired.
6. Physical and Mental Well-Being of cadets– A number of instances were highlighted where the cadets were subject to humiliation in front of their fellow cadets and were made to feel embarrassed. Despite the nature of strictness to be followed in NCC, the cadets must be treated with respect and not be humiliated publicly.
7. Meaningful NCC sessions– The lectures/activities conducted during the NCC sessions should be planned and meaningful. As one of our respondents mentioned, “NCC should stop selling a career in the armed forces.” The SPEC could monitor what is being done in NCC class and ask for a class by class plan.
8. Clarity about Attendance Criteria– Several students complained of lack of proper information regarding attendance criteria in the CPA. It was suggested that a clear cut attendance policy be issued to every cadet before every semester to make sure that there each student has clarity on the policy.
9. Joining NCC and forging of signatures in the declaration form– At the time of joining NCC, all cadets are to give a written declaration stating that the NCC bears no responsibility in case of an injury/death in the NCC drills. This declaration also requires the signature of the parents of the cadets. As the cadets come from various parts of the country, it is not feasible for them to visit their parents in the middle of a semester. As a recourse, it is actively suggested by the NCC regiment to forge signatures on the declaration form. A good way could be to ask this permission in the orientation itself, along with other documents.
Analysis and Report: Aaryan Mehar, Aayush Priyadarshi, Abhimanyu Sethia, Aryan Pandeya, Shreyash Ravi, Varun Soni
Poster Design by: Raj Varshith Moora
