The National Service Scheme (NSS) is a Central Sector Scheme of Government of India, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. It provides opportunity to the student youth of 11th & 12th Class of schools at +2 Board level and student youth of Technical Institution, Graduate & Post Graduate at colleges and University level of India to take part in various Government led community service activities & programmes. The primary objective of developing the personality and character of the student youth through voluntary community service.
‘Education through Service’ is the purpose of the NSS. NSS was launched in 1969 in 37 Universities involving about 40,000 volunteers which has now spread over 657 Universities and 51 +2 Councils/Directorates, covering 20,669 Colleges/ Technical Institutions and 11,988 Senior Secondary School. Since inception, over 7.4 crore students have benefitted from NSS.
All the youth volunteers who opt to serve the nation through the NSS led community service wear the NSS badge with pride and a sense of responsibility towards helping needy.
The Konark wheel in the NSS badge having 8 bars signifies the 24 hours of a the day, reminding the wearer to be ready for the service of the nation round the clock i.e. for 24 hours.
Red colour in the badge signifies energy and spirit displayed by the NSS volunteers.
The Blue colour signifies the cosmos of which the NSS is a tiny part, ready to contribute its share for the welfare of the mankind.
The motto of National Service Scheme is NOT ME BUT YOU
A NSS volunteer who takes part in the community service programme would either be a college level or a senior secondary level student. Being an active member, these student volunteers would have the exposure and experience to be the following:
an accomplished social leader
an efficient administrator
a person who understands human nature
The National Integration Camp (NIC) is organized every year and the duration of each camp is of 7 days with day-night boarding & lodging. These camps are held in different parts of the country. Each camp involves 200 NSS volunteers to undertake the scheduled activities.
The camps are held every year which are attended by approximately 1500 NSS volunteers with at least 50% of the volunteers being girl students. These camps are conducted in Himalayan Region in the North and Arunachal Pradesh in North East region. The adventure activities undertaken in these camps includes trekking of mountains, water rafting, Para-sailing and basic skiing.
Promote various adventure activities among NSS volunteers
Infuse the sense of love towards the various regions of India
Enhance leadership qualities, fraternity, team spirit and risk-taking capacity.
Improvement of physical and mental strength
Exposure to new vocational possibilities
The first Republic Day Camp of NSS Volunteers was held in 1988. The camp takes place in Delhi between 1st and 31st January every year with 200 NSS selected volunteers who are good in discipline, March-past and cultural activities.
A Contingent of selected NSS volunteers participates in the Republic Day Parade at Rajpath, New Delhi on 26th of January every year in accordance with the guidelines and requisition of the Ministry of Defence.
Enable the volunteers to interact with fellow members hailing from various parts of India.
Experience the tradition, custom, culture, language of all states of India.
Provide a chance to develop overall personality of the Student volunteers.
Constitute the bond of patriotism, national integration, brotherhood and communal harmony.
National Youth Festivals are organized every year from 12th to 16th January by the Government of India, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports in collaboration with the State Governments in different parts of the country. Eminent guests, speakers and youth icons are invited to address and interact with about 1500 participating NSS volunteers during the National Youth Festivals.
Make the volunteers aware of the various festivals celebrated in the country
Remind the volunteers of the cultural importance of festivals celebrated in our country
Provide a chance to the NSS volunteers to interact with the resource person/speaker/youth icons
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India had instituted the National Service Scheme Awards to recognize the voluntary service rendered by NSS volunteers, Programme Officers, N.S.S. units and the university/senior secondary council.
These awards were instituted in the year 1993-1994. Since then, these awards are given away every year at various Levels. The details of these awards are as follows:-
| Sr.No. | Category | No. of Awards | Value of each award |
| 1 | University/+2 Council First Award | 1 | ₹ 5,00,000/- |
| 2 | Upcoming University Second Award | 1 | ₹ 3,00,000/- |
| 3 | Programme Officer | 10 | ₹ 1,50,000/- |
| 4 | NSS Unit | 10 | ₹ 2,00,000/- |
| 5 | NSS Volunteer | 30 | ₹ 1,00,000/- |
To recognize outstanding contribution by NSS student volunteers, NSS Programme Officers and the Programme Coordinators in community service
To encourage young NSS student volunteers to develop their personality through community service.
To encourage the Programme Officers and the Programme Coordinators of NSS for catering the needs of National Service Scheme through the NSS volunteers.
To motivate NSS Volunteers for continuing their selfless service towards community work.
The main objectives of National Service Scheme (NSS) are:
Understand the community in which they work.
Understand themselves in relation to their community
Identify the needs and problems of the community and involve them in problem-solving
Develop among themselves a sense of social and civic responsibility
Utilise their knowledge in finding practical solutions to individual and community problems
Develop competence required for group-living and sharing of responsibilities
Gain skills in mobilising community participation
Acquire leadership qualities and democratic attitudes
Develop capacity to meet emergencies and natural disasters
Practise national integration and social harmony.
| # | Name | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Asst. Prof. Raghav Sharma | NSS Chief Program Officer |
| 2 | Dr. Kranti Janardan Bhovate | NSS Program Officer |
