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The National Service Scheme is primarily stands for channalising the students youth for building the nation. The youth in all ages has been in the vanguard of progress and social change, thirst for freedom, impatience for quickerpace of progress and a passion for innovation, coupled with idealism and creative fervour, saw the youth in the forefront of the freedom struggle in our own land. If our youth was inspired by the call of the Father of the Nation in the first half of this century, the youth of today faces the challenge of economic development and technological progress with social justice.

Ever since independence there has been growing awareness of the desirability of involving students in National Service. The first Education Commission (1950) recommended the introduction of national service by students on a voluntary basis. Subsequently on the basis of suggestion made by the then Prime Minister pt. Nehru, a committee was appointed under the chairmanship pf Dr. C D Deshmukh to prepare a scheme for compulsory national service by youth in several countries, recommended that national service may be introduced on a voluntary basis. A similar recommendation was made by the Education Commission appointed under the Chairmanship of Dr. D S Kothari.

In April 1967, the Conference of State Education Ministers recommended that at the University stage, students could be permitted to join the national Cadet Corps which was already in existence on a voluntary basis and an alternative to this could be offered to them in the form of a new programme called the National service Scheme (NSS). Promising sportsmen, however, should be exempted from both and allowed to join another scheme called National Sports Organization (NSO), in view of the need to give priority to the development of sports and athletics.

The conference of Vice-Chancellors in September 1967 welcomed this recommendation and suggested that a social committee of Vice Chancellors should be sent up to examine this question in detail. The details were soon worked out and the planning Commission sanctioned on outlay of Rs. 5 crore for developing the NSS during the 4^th Five Year Plan as a pilot project in selected institution and universities. In pursuance of these recommendations, the Ministry of Education introduced National Service Scheme during 1969-70. The choice of the timing of its introduction was remarkably auspicious as 1969 was the birth centenary year of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of Nation to whom social service was almost a religion.

The response of students to the scheme has been excellent. Starting with an enrollment of 40,000 students in 1969, the coverage of NSS students has increased every year. Now the strength of NSS is 27% of the total student population in the country.

The scheme now extends to all the states and universities in the country. Students, teachers, parents, guardians, persons in authority in government, universities and colleges and the people in general now realize the need and significance of NSS. It has aroused among the students and youth an awareness of the realities of life, a better understanding and appreciation of the problems of the people. NSS is, thus a concrete attempt in making education relevant to the needs of the society.

AIM AND OBJECTIVE OF NSS

OBJECTIVES OF NSS

To work with/among people;
To engage in creative and constructive social action;
To enhance his/her knowledge of himself/herself and the community
To put his/her scholarship to practical use in mitigating at least some of the problems.
To gain skill in the existence of democratic leadership
To gain skills in programme development to enable him/her for self employment
To bridge the gulf between the educated and the uneducated masses; and
To promote the will to serve the weaker sections of the community.

Sri. C.V. Ananda Bose
Principal Secretary.
Higher education Department
Government of Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram
Phone No. 047- 2328410(O), 2366263 (R)
Fax: 0471-2328459
e-mail :prlsecy@higheredu.kerala.gov.in

Sri. P. Alassankutty
State Liaison Officer
State Level NSS Cell
Vikas Bhavan
Thiruvananthapuram.
Phone No: 0471 – 2308687

Sri. K. Rajendran
Assistant Programme Advisor
NSS Regional Centre
C G O, Complex, Block ‘B’
2^nd Floor, Poonkulam
Vellayani P O,
Thiruvananthapuram

Prof. P K Mohammed,
Coordinator
Training and Orientation centre, Kerala
Rajagiri College of Social Science
Kalamassery

University of Kerala Thomas Mathew	0471 - 2307427
Mahatma Gandhi University Thomas Abraham	0481 – 2731029
University of Cochin Mohammed Aslam	0484 – 2575310
Kannur University Anil kumar V S	0497 – 2782351 to 55
Calicut University Dr. K V Mohanan	0494 – 2401665 to72
Agriculture University A I Jose	0487 – 2370150
Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady Dr. Dharmaraj A dot	0484 – 24633802 Ext: 131
Technical Cell K A Khalith	0484 – 2556530
Higher Secondary Education Dr. Thomas John	0471 – 2323023
Vocational Higher Secondary Education L Thulaseedharan	0471 – 2325318

Each institution adopts a village/slum for its activities
Constructed hundreds of rural roads

Activities like personality development of students,
Community service like literacy, adult education etc

Generation of awareness of the public on patriotism, Civic sense, Tolerance, Cleanliness, fellow feeling, communicable diseases.
For undertaking specific programme like construction of new rural roads, cleaning of ponds canals with the people’s co-operation and participation with a spirit of nation building.
Conducting Blood donation programme, coordinating Awareness camps about communicable diseases, AIDS/HIV, Awareness programmes, environmental protection programme.
Programmes with local self-government institutions (Panchayath Raj). Conduct Road Safety Awareness programme.
Conducting programme for mental Health of the student’s youth and bringing down suicide tendencies.
Conduct programmes in connection with Independence Day, Republic Day, Gandhi Jayanthi and similar celebration events
Conduct programmes for Life Skill Development of the youth
Self reliance and self employment Awareness programmes
“Voluntarism” Awareness programme for the public
Conducting a rapport / bridge between the campus and community around the educational institution to share the best qualities acquired by the volunteers with the village youth who have denied those opportunities and ultimately to narrow the gaps and made the youth promising citizens for a prosperous nation.

No specific application for getting NSS service. Write in a plain paper, to any of the above coordinators on the service you needed from the NSS units.

Volunteers strength	1 lakh volunteers	.
Awards so far received	Prof. K K George NSS Programme Officer Government College Kottayam	Indira Gandhi National Award Winner
.	Liju A NSS Volunteers S N College, Chempazhanthy	.

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NSS State Liaison Cell
Headed by state Liaison Officer
(Liaison between State Government,
Central Government, University etc.)