NCC students to be Youth Red Cross Volunteers

Vijayawada: Around 1.6 lakh NCC students of AP will double up as Youth Red Cross Volunteers in Andhra Pradesh with signing of an MoU between AP Red Cross and National Cadet Corps here on Thursday.

Air Commodore V.M. Reddy, deputy director general, NCC (AP and TS) and A.K. Parida, retired IAS officer and general secretary of Indian Red Cross Society, AP branch, signed the MoU.

Under the agreement, all NCC cadets will be motivated to enrol as Youth Red Cross Volunteers. AP Red Cross will impart NCC cadets skills in first aid, CPR, disaster relief. The cadets will be encouraged to donate blood in emergencies and support ecological activities to counter climate change.

AP Red Cross chairman Dr. A. Sridhar Reddy appealed to NCC cadets to participate in service programmes that Red Cross is organising for tribal communities in interior forest areas.

Air Commodore Reddy expressed happiness in associating NCC with Red Cross, an international humanitarian organisation. He asked all NCC cadets to be in the forefront during disasters or floods.

Parida said that this is the first time in the country that NCC and Red Cross have joining hands in strengthening relief and service activities in nooks and corners of Andhra Pradesh.

B.V.S. Kumar, State Coordinator for AP Red Cross Blood Banks and Projects, Col. Sabyasachi Das, Col. Sanjay Gupta, Col. Balinder Singh, Capt. R.S. Rao, Col. Sanjay Tanwar and Lt. Col. Surendran from different battalions of AP, NCC officer Niranjan, flying officer Johnson of Loyola College participated in the programme.