THE IMPORTANCE OF NSS IN THE LIFE OF YOUTH OF INDIA

by
Sunil Ratnakar Sonawane
Asst.Professor in Commerce,
ASP College (Autonomous), Devrukh.
Taluka - Sangameshwar
District - Ratnagiri.
Email:dspmaspsunil@gmail.com
Phone: +(91)9773522830

Abstract
The full form of NSS is National Service Scheme. It is an Indian public service
programme sponsored by the Government of India and is conducted by the
Department of Youth Affairs and Sports. This scheme was launched in 1969 in total
37 universities of the nation. At that time the National service scheme had just forty
thousand students and the main objective of the scheme was to develop the
personality of students through community service. At present, more than 3.2 million
students form a part of NSS. It has spread over 298 universities in India and 42 senior
secondary educational councils. NSS organizes regular camps which are funded by
the Government of India in which the volunteers visit a rural area and perform
activities like cleaning afforestation, rallies and stage shows. The present paper aims
to focus the importance of NSS in the life of youth of India.

Keywords: Social scheme, educational activities, rural development, personality

development

1. Introduction

National Service Scheme is a program-me of Government of India which mainly

targeted on community service. Students will get a chance to participate in the
development of different communities. Students who wish to bring changes in society
can involve in NSS and can become an NSS volunteer.

NSS is often defined as the third dimension of Indian Higher education System. It is
after all a student community with the objective of personality development. It is
always misunderstood as a platform for social service. Yes it is. but the primary aim is

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personality development of students. For that the method adopted is social service. Or
we can say NSS is focused on personality development through social service.

2. The Motto:

The motto or watchword of the National Service Scheme is 'NOT ME BUT YOU'.
This reflects the essence of democratic living and upholds the need for selfless service
and appreciation of the other person's point of view, and also to show consideration
for fellow human beings. It underlines the fact that the welfare of an individual is
ultimately dependent on the welfare of society as the whole. Therefore, it should be
the aim of the NSS to demonstrate this motto in its day-to-day activities.

3. Objectives of NSS:

The broad objectives of NSS are to:

 Understand the community in which the volunteers work

 Understand themselves in relation to their community
 Identify the needs and problems of the community and involve them in
problem solving processes
 Develop in them a sense of social and civic responsibility
 Utilize their knowledge in finding practical solution to individual and
community problems
 Develop competence required for group-living and sharing of responsibilities
 Gain skills in mobilizing community participation
 Acquire leadership qualities and democratic attitude

4. Administrative Structure of NSS

4.1 National Level The organizational structure of NSS is consisting five levels
like National Level, Regional Level, State Level, University Level and
College Level. In the Ministry of Human resources Development, the
department of Youth Affairs and Sports, New Delhi is the Nodal department
for NSS. The administrative responsibility has been given to this department
for making the policies, planning, implementation & evaluation of NSS. The
Administration & Implementation of the NSS is take care under the Joint
Secretary.

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4.2 Regional Level There are 15 Regional Centers in various regions of the
country. Each regional centre is working under the Deputy Programme
Advisor. The role of regional centre is that to maintain the liaison with the
State Government, Universities, TORC (Training and Orientation Centre), and
Orientation & Research Centers for effective implementation of NSS
programme. TORC and TOC are established throughout India to provide
orientation of NSS PO’s and other functionaries.
4.3 4.3 State level At State Level, there is a State NSS Cell worked under the
State Liaison Officer (SLO). State level NSS cell is established at capital of
the state. The NSS cell at state level is set up in the State Secretariat of Higher
Education. The role of SLO is to coordinate with the universities of a State.
The State level NSS cell is monitoring the programme and coordinating with
other development organizations. This cell is also releases the grants about
NSS and allocates the NSS strength to respective universities in the state.
TORC and TOC centers are provide orientation, training, consultation,
research, evaluation and publication to NSS in Maharashtra. There are two
such centers TORC in Maharashtra Tata Institute of Social Science, Mumbai
and Centre for Studies in Rural Development, Ahmednagar.
4.4 University Level: Every University has a NSS cell to monitor, supervise and
coordinate NSS programmes implemented by the colleges under the university
area. This cell is working under the higher authority Honorable Vice-
Chancellor. The Programme coordinator is the in-charge of the NSS cell at the
university level. The role of the programme coordinator is that executes all
administrative and policy directives of the government as well as State and
university advisory committee. Programme coordinators are assist, guide
&help to implement the NSS regular activities, camping programmes and
various activities at the different college level as well as the university level.
4.5 College Level At the college level an advisory committee constituted under
the Chairmanship of the college principal. The Programme Officer has
responsibility about the NSS programmes at the college level. The roles of the
PO’s are to help the student volunteers in the planning & implementing the
various NSS activities & innovative programmes. He has to coordinate the
various internal & external sources available while implementing the
programmes.

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 5. Activities in NSS motivating Youth:

NSS volunteers have to complete 120 hours of regular activities throughout one
academic year. The volunteers has to remain in constant touch with the community
that is villages, slums or voluntary agencies. The activities include:

5.1 Adoption of village: The NSS volunteers select a village, or we can say,
adopt it. The main idea behind the adoption of a village is that rather than
visiting so many villages, the volunteers shall focus on one single village. If
the the volunteers visit many villages, they may not be able to complete all the
tasks at a particular area. It would be just wastage of time and resources and in
this case it would be simply advised to focus only on one single village and
serve to the fullest.
5.2 Adoption of slums: The slum should be so chosen that it is not large, is close
to the student and is free from any political conflicts. The residents of the slum
should also agree in order to work with the NSS volunteers. Identification of
problems, the formation of strategies, and spreading awareness should be done
in the same way as described in the adoption of the village.
5.3 Coordination with Voluntary Organizations: The national service scheme
unit has no funds for running various programmes and drives in the adopted
villages or slums. So, they have to make continuous contact with the
government agencies or the voluntary organizations which are working in this
field. These organizations assist them in the completion of their tasks.
5.4 Role in Disaster Management: Our country suffers a lot from disasters.
Nearly 59 percent of the country’s area is prone to moderate to high
earthquakes, 12 percent prone to floods, and 8 percent of cyclones. National
service scheme provides the help to the ones who need it during the time of
disaster. India has a very huge youth population. This population would be of
great help at these times. The NSS volunteers are given training for this
purpose. They can reach the required spot and help the victims with food, first
aid, and motivational help. As these volunteers are educated they know how to
help people in the correct manner an they behave in a highly disciplined and
peaceful way.

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 6. Importance of NSS

National service scheme has been performing many important tasks and bringing
good results from them. NSS contains the young population of the country, that is, the
students studying in colleges and higher secondary schools. The young blood of these
volunteers has a lot of passion. They want to do something for their country. By
joining NSS they help in the development of the country. This helps in the overall
development of the volunteers. The volunteers gain confidence by participating in the
NSS activities. They get to know how to make plans in order to complete a task. They
develop skills like public speaking, raising funds, educating others etc. even if they
fail in any task; they get to learn from their failures. It improves their level of
understanding. The can understand people, their problem better. They get to know the
problems our country is facing. They get to know the social, economic and political
aspects of the country. On the other hand, it is beneficial for the country also. As they
working for the betterment of the people who are living below the standard, in very
poor living conditions, they are helping in the development of the country. They make
the people about important needs to live and tell them how to improve their living
conditions. In this way, it is beneficial for the country and the volunteers both.

NSS units can take up any activity that has relevant to the community. The activities
continue to evolve in response to the needs of the community. The core activities
could be in the field of education and literacy, health, family welfare and nutrition,
sanitation and cleanliness, environment conservation, social service programmes,
programmes for improving status of women, production-oriented programmes,
disaster relief and rehabilitation, campaigning against social evils, creating awareness
about Flagship Programmes of the Government like Digital India, Skill India,
Promotion of Yoga etc.

NSS volunteers have been making very valuable contribution to the Society, besides
developing their own personality. During the previous year, NSS units organised
12,628 special camps in adopted villages/ slums across the country. NSS volunteers
undertook 91 lakh volunteer-hours of Shramadaan, donated 1.98 lakh units of blood
and planted over 13.27 lakh saplings. The volunteers were instrumental in organising
about 7,051 Health, Eye and Immunization camps and also 30,011 awareness
programmes through rallies and campaigns on various important government

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programmes and social issues. NSS volunteers facilitated pulse polio immunization of
about 6 lakh children. The volunteers have been playing key role in Swachh Bharat
Mission, spreading digital literacy and in popularization of Yoga. On the occasion of
International Day of Yoga last year, about 11.19 lakh NSS volunteers participated in
yoga programmes across the country.

The main objectives of NSS are to identify the requirements of the community and to
encourage the youth to satisfy these requirements and to prepare the volunteers for
their future role as sensitized, but self confident community persons. This is very
much essential phenomena to sustain in the contemporary world. NSS Volunteers are
always ready to accept the challenges for solving the community problems. The NSS
channelized its volunteer force to make all possible support to help the affected
people in Maharashtra. As per the instruction given by Programme Adviser and State
Liaison Officer fifty percent of total Volunteers enrolled should participate in the
camp every year.NSS volunteers worked in adopted village and carried out a lot of
constructively developmental work like tree plantation, Road repairing, Toilets and
pits for waste materials, health awareness programmes like immunization of pulse
polio, Awareness about AIDS etc. Special Camping forms an integral part of the
National Service scheme. Special camping programmes are benefitted to the youth
because it provides unique opportunities to the students for groupliving, collective
experience sharing and constant interaction with the community.

Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is committed to expand NSS in a big way. So
far, the NSS covers less than 10% of the students eligible to join it. Efforts are being
made to increase funding support for NSS and meanwhile, setting up of Self-
Financing Units of NSS has also been permitted. To encourage students to take up
NSS, UGC has issued an Advisory to all Universities to introduce NSS as an Elective
subject with credits. The Ministry has been rewarding good work done by NSS
volunteers by conferring Annual NSS Awards at national level, by providing
opportunities to NSS volunteers to participate in Republic Day Parade, International
Youth Delegations, Adventure Camps, etc.

While a lot of good work is being done under NSS, there is potential to do much
more. The students and NSS volunteers are young Indians and they represent the most
dynamic and vibrant section of the Society. These are exciting times in India. The

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Government of India, under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra
Modi has embarked on the mission of building a united, strong and modern India –
“Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat”, following the principle of “Sabka Saath, Sabka
Vikas”. A number of path-breaking initiatives have been taken. ‘Make in India’
campaign has been launched to develop India as a global manufacturing hub. ‘Digital
India’ initiative seeks to transform India into a digitally empowered society and
knowledge economy. A nation-wide campaign to promote Digital Payments is
underway. ‘Skill India’ has being launched to impart necessary skills to prepare
Indians for the opportunities in Indian economy as also the opportunities abroad.

A number of initiatives, including Smart Cities Project, have been launched for
developing infrastructure. ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ and ‘Clean Ganga’ Mission have
been launched for building a clean and green India. A sustained and determined
campaign is underway to eliminate the black money and to clean up our Society. NSS
volunteers can be contributors as well as beneficiaries of these initiatives. The
programme design of NSS needs to constantly evolve to reflect the priorities of the
Government and the nation.

7. Conclusion:

NSS is playing an important role in the development of the country and of the
students associated with it. At the beginning the students join NSS with only one
single motive of obtaining 10 marks at their exams, however, once they complete two
years of successful NSS programme, they develop a sense of responsibility towards
the society being more mature person. NSS has helped many people who were
affected by some calamity. With so many benefits of NSS, every student must try to
join NSS. For those who want to do something for their nation, NSS is a very good
platform. The students who are a part of NSS, must tell other students about the
benefits of NSS and motivate them to join it. NSS provides the students with a
platform for serving their nation and their personality development also.

References:

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