History of NSS

After Independence, the university Grants Commission, headed by S. Radhakrishnan, recommended the introduction of voluntary national service in academic institutions. This idea was again considered by the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) at its meeting in January, 1950. After examining the idea and the experiences of other countries in this field, the board recommended that students and teachers should devote time to voluntary manual work. In the draft first Five- Year Plan adopted by the government in 1952, the need for social and labour service by Indian students for one year was stressed. In 1958, Jawaharlal Nehru, in a letter to the chief ministers, considered the idea of social service as a prerequisite for graduating. He directed the Ministry of Education to formulate a suitable scheme for the introduction of national serviced into academic institutions.

In May 1969, a conference of student representatives of Universities and Institutions of Higher Education convened by the Ministry of Education and the university Grants Commission also unanimously agreed that a national service scheme could be an instrument for national integration. The details were spam worked out and orientation camp was organized by Rajghat. This camp was concluded on 7the June 1969. K. K. Gupta from university of Delhi was declared first volunteer. The Planning Commission sanctioned ad outlay of Rs. 5 Crore for the NSS during the Fourth Five-Year Plan, stipulating that the NSS be a pilot project in selected institutions and universities on24th September 1969. Then Union Education Minister V.K.R.V. Rao launched the NSS at 37 Universities across all stated. The scheme has been expended to all stated and universities in the Country, and also 10+2 level institutes in many states.

In the Sangameshwar College NSS Was Established in the year of 1972.

The symbol for the NSS has been based on the giant Rath Wheel of the World Famous Konark Sun Temple (The Black Pagoda) situated in Odessa, India. The wheel portrays the cycle of creation, preservation and release. It signifies the movement in life across time and space, the symbol thus stands for continuity as well as change and implies the continuous striving of NSS for social change. The eight bars in the wheel represent 24 hours of a day. The red colour indicates that the volunteer is full of young blood that is lively, active, energetic and full of high spirit. The navy blue colour indicated the cosmos of which the NSS is tiny part, ready to contribute its share for the welfare of the mankind. It stands for continuity as well as change and implies the continuous striving of NSS.

At National level, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Delhi, Government of India, is the nodal authority which works with state level NSS Cells. State level NSS Cells are responsibility of the respective state governments. Within states each university has University level NSS Cell under which Institutions (Schools and Colleges) based NSS units operate. Most government and government Aided Institutions have volunteer NSS units. Institutions are encouraged to have NSS volunteers. A unit typically comprises 20-40 Students. They are managed internally by a responsible party form the school or college, who reports to the regional NSS coordinator. Most Institutions do not have a separate uniform for NSS volunteers as one of the great and dedicated towards the welfare of India.