Award of Scholarships to Outstanding NCC Cadets of the UT of Puducherry

What is the NCC cadet scholarship in Puducherry?

The Award of Scholarships to Outstanding NCC Cadets of the UT of Puducherry is a merit and conduct scholarship run by the Directorate of School Education, Government of Puducherry, in conjunction with the NCC Group Headquarters, Puducherry. It rewards cadets who have kept up parade and camp attendance through the year and have maintained good conduct in their unit.

According to the Directorate, the scholarship is paid at two rates:

The awards are available for cadets in four divisions:

• Senior Division Boys, up to graduation
• Senior Wing Girls
• Junior Division Boys; up to class XII
• Junior Wing Girls

Thirty-four fresh scholarships are allotted every year across these divisions. That fixed annual number is the practical constraint on the scheme: it is not an entitlement for every cadet who meets the attendance bar, but a limited allotment awarded on the recommendation of the NCC chain of command.

The scheme sits within the student welfare programme administered by the Senior Accounts Officer of the Directorate, alongside the Puducherry State Post Matric Scholarship, the Pre-Matric Scholarship to Other Economically Backward Class students, the attendance scholarship for girl students in the middle stage, and the scholarships for Puducherry cadets at the Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun and at Sainik School, Amaravathi Nagar, Coimbatore.

Who is eligible for the NCC cadet scholarship?

A cadet can receive the scholarship if:

• The cadet is a citizen of India and a resident of the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• The cadet is enrolled in the Senior Division, Senior Wing, Junior Division or Junior Wing of the NCC.
• The cadet has attended 75 per cent of the parades in the year.
• The cadet has attended the eligible number of camps for the division and wing.
• The cadet has not been discharged from the institution or from the NCC on disciplinary grounds.
• The cadet is not receiving any other regular scholarship or stipend.

A cadet is not eligible and cannot apply if:

• Parade attendance is below 75 per cent for the year, or the required camps have not been attended.
• The cadet has been discharged on disciplinary grounds from the institution or from the NCC. Conduct is an explicit condition of the award.
• The cadet is already drawing another regular scholarship or stipend. Fee concessions awarded by the institution or by another government are permitted and do not disqualify.
• The cadet is not a resident of the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• The cadet has been academically detained or is carrying arrears in academic studies, which bars a repeat application in a subsequent year.
• The cadet is in the senior division but has passed graduation, or in the junior division but has passed class XII, since the awards are available only up to those levels.

There is no income limit under this scheme, which distinguishes it from most of the Directorate's other scholarships. A cadet from a comfortable household who meets the attendance and conduct conditions is as eligible as one from a poor household.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the NCC cadet scholarship

1. Obtain the application form from the company or troop commander of your NCC unit. The Directorate is specific that the form comes from the commander, not from the school office or from a public portal.
2. Have the unit certify your parade and camp attendance. The 75 per cent parade requirement and the camp requirement are the substantive tests, and the unit's record is the evidence.
3. Complete the form with your personal details, division and wing, institution, residence details and bank account particulars, and attach the declaration that you are not drawing any other regular scholarship or stipend.
4. Submit the completed application to the Officer Commanding of your NCC unit. The Officer Commanding scrutinises the applications received.
5. The Officer Commanding of the NCC units of Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam forwards the scrutinised applications, with due recommendations, to the Group Commander, NCC Group Headquarters, Puducherry.
6. Await the selection, which is made against the thirty-four fresh scholarships allotted for the year, and check with your unit if you have not heard by the end of the training year.
7. Apply again the following year if you wish to continue, because the scholarship is tenable for one year and is not renewable, provided you have not been academically detained and are not carrying arrears.

How the scholarship is paid and for how long

The scholarship is tenable for one year and is not renewable. That is the single most misunderstood feature of the scheme. A cadet who receives it in one year does not carry it forward automatically; a fresh application must go through the unit each year, and the cadet must satisfy the attendance and conduct conditions afresh as well as being clear of academic detention and arrears.

The monthly rates — Rs 500 for a senior division cadet and Rs 250 for a junior division cadet: are paid over the year of the award. The Directorate of School Education disburses student welfare payments directly into the bank account of the approved beneficiary, and cadets should ensure the account is in their own name and is Aadhaar-seeded before the sanction is issued.

Why a deserving cadet may miss the award

• The thirty-four scholarships are exhausted. The allotment is fixed, and a cadet who satisfies every condition may still not be selected in a year with more qualifying applications than places.
• Parade attendance falls just short of 75 per cent. Cadets often underestimate how many parades they have missed. Check the unit's register during the year rather than at the end of it.
• The camp requirement is not met. Attending parades but skipping the annual training camp is a common reason for exclusion.
• Another regular scholarship is being drawn, which the scheme prohibits. A cadet who is offered a state post-matric scholarship and this award must choose.
• The application does not go through the Officer Commanding. An application handed to the school office does not enter the NCC channel and does not reach the Group Commander.
• Academic detention or arrears, which bar a repeat application in the following year even if the cadet's NCC record is good.

What other help a Puducherry cadet or defence-linked student can get

A cadet with an eye on the armed forces should also look at the Directorate's scholarships for cadets from Puducherry studying at the Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun, which pays Rs 20,000 per annum per cadet and has run since 2004-05 for cadets belonging to the Union Territory by birth or by five continuous years of residence, and at the scholarship for students from Puducherry studying at Sainik School, Amaravathi Nagar, Coimbatore.

Where a cadet's parent is an ex-serviceman, the Department of Sainik Welfare, Government of Puducherry pays a separate stream of educational assistance from the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund, reimbursement of tuition fees at Rs 1,500 a month for school and Rs 2,500 a month for NDA or IMA, Book Allowance of Rs 2,500 to Rs 5,000 a year and Uniform Allowance of Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 a year; provided the ex-serviceman is registered with that department. Note, however, that this NCC scholarship bars the holding of another regular scholarship or stipend, so the two streams should not be assumed to combine without checking.

The Union Territory also reserves 1 per cent of seats in government recognised medical colleges through CENTAC and 3 per cent of seats in all other government recognised higher educational institutions for wards of registered ex-servicemen and widows and of serving defence personnel who are natives of Puducherry.

Where to raise a grievance

Questions about the award are best raised first with the Officer Commanding of your NCC unit, and then with the Group Commander, NCC Group Headquarters, Puducherry, since the application travels through that channel. Questions about payment go to the Directorate of School Education, Government of Puducherry on 0413-2207202 or by email at dse-edn@py.gov.in.

There is no fee for the application, and no agent or middleman is involved.