NSS Personality

The NSS, Development of the Personality of Students

Through Community Service

Introduction : The National Service Scheme popularly known as NSS in the country is a scheme for the student in the +2 level institutions, Colleges of general as well as professional and Technical institutions and Universities. The NSS was launched on 24th September, 1969 by the then Union Education Minister, Dr. V.K.R.V. Rao in 37 Universities with strength of 40,000 Volunteers during the Birth Centenary of Mahatma Gandhi, Father of the Nation. Today, the strength of NSS Volunteers is increasing to more than 2.5 million and is spread all over the Country covering almost all the Universities.

NSS in India : In India, the idea of involving

The giant wheel signifies the movement in life across time and space and also portrays the cycle of creation, preservation and release. It stands for community and as well as change and implies on the part of the NSS for continuous striving forward for social transformation and progress.

The Programmes of the NSS : There are two programmes, (i) Regular programme and (ii) Special Camping programme. Students selected as NSS Volunteers must work for two consecutive years along with their studies putting in 120 hrs of service in Regular Programme Activities each year and participating in one Special Camping Programme of 10 days duration in the adopted village which should be fully residential. It is mandatory for an NSS Volunteer to attend 15 activities under Regular Programme Activities each year comprising 120 hrs. i.e., 120 hrs x 2 yrs = 240 hrs and another 240 hrs i.e., (10 days x 24 hrs = 240 hrs) for Special Camping Programme. The NSS Programme is flexible. Any useful programme in the light of the need of the community and the occasion can be taken up in consultation with the College, University and the State NSS Cell on the above two fold manners i.e., Regular Programme and Special Camping

With the introduction of the NSS, this concept has been changed into a multi-dimensional approach which aims at all-round development of an individual student besides his normal class room activities. Individual excellence cannot be the sole aim of the education in a free country pledged to democracy, socialism and secularism. Education should develop a sense of social responsibility and commitment to the country. NSS tries to inculcate this in the students. The NSS tries to bridge the gap between the content and the method of education on the one hand and tries to meet the needs and aspirations of the community, specially the weaker sections on the other. It provides the undergraduate students with opportunities to devote their leisure time to their varieties of social services and developmental activities. It further helps to initiate social action, object, and thereby enhance their own knowledge and skills and test their validity in helping the people to solve their problems with the knowledge they have, and on the other hand acquiring by themselves the knowledge and education of lives, habits, aspirations of the weaker sections of the village and slum dwellers who form the major bulk of the population and who occupies more than 80% of our country.

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