In India, the idea of involving students in the task of national service dates back to the times of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation. The central theme that he tried to impress upon his student audience, time and again, was that they should always keep their social responsibility before them. The first duty of the students should be not to treat their period of study as one of the opportunities for indulgence in intellectual luxury but to prepare themselves for final dedication in the service of those who provided the sinews of the nation with the national goods & services so essential to society. Advising them to form a living contact with the community in whose midst their institution is located, he suggested that instead of undertaking academic research about economic and social disability, the students should do "something positive so that the life of the villagers might be raised to a higher material and moral level".

1. The post-independence era was marked by an urge for introducing social service for students, both as a measure of educational reform and as a means to improve the quality of educated manpower. The University Grants Commission headed by Dr. Radhakrishnan recommended introduction of national service in the academic institutions on a voluntary basis with a view to developing healthy contacts between the students and teachers on the one hand and establishing a constructive linkage between the campus and the community on the other hand.

2. The idea was again considered by the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) at its meeting held in January, 1950. After examining the various aspects of the matter and in the light of experience of other countries in this field, the Board recommended that students should devote some time to manual work on a voluntary basis and that the teachers should also associate with them in such work. In the draft First Five Year Plan adopted by the Government of India in 1952, the need for social and labour service for students for one year was further stressed. Consequent upon this, labour and social service camps, campus work projects, village apprenticeship scheme etc. were put into operation by various educational institutions, In 1958, the then Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in his letter to the Chief-Ministers, mooted the idea of having social service as a prerequisite for graduation. He further directed the Ministry of Education to formulate a suitable scheme for introduction of national service into the academic institutions.

3. In 1959, a draft outline of the scheme was placed before the Education Minister's Conference. The Conference was unanimous about the urgent need for trying out a workable scheme for national service. In view of the fact that education as it was imparted in schools and colleges, left something to be desired and it was necessary to supplement it with programmes which would arouse interest the social and economic reconstruction of the country. It was viewed that if the objectives of the scheme were to be realized, it was essential to integrate social service with the educational process as early as possible. The Conference suggested the appointment of a committee to work out details of the proposed pilot project. In pursuance of these recommendations, a National Service Committee was appointed under the Chairmanship of Dr. C.D. Deshmukh on August 28, 1959 to make concrete suggestions in this direction. The committee recommended that national service for a period of nine months to a year may be made compulsory for all students completing high school education and intending to enroll themselves in a college or a university. The scheme was to include some military training, social service, manual labour and general education. The recommendations of the Committee could not be accepted because of its financial implications and difficulties in implementation.

4. In 1960, at the instance of the Government of India, Prof. K.G. Saiyidain studied national service by students implemented in several countries of the world and submitted his report under the title "National Service for the Youth" to the Government with a number of recommendations as to what could be done in India to develop a feasible scheme of social service by students. It was also recommended that social service camps should be open to students as well as non-students within the prescribed age group for better inter-relationship.

5. The Education Commission headed by Dr. D.S. Kothari (1964-66) recommended that students at all' stages of education should be associated with some form of social service. This was taken into account by the State Education Minister during their conference in April 1967 and they recommended that at the university stage, students could be permitted to join the National Cadet Corps (NCC) 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 the National Sports Organization (NSO), in view of the need to give priority to the development of sports and athletics.

6. The Vice-Chancellors' Conference in September, 1969 welcomed this recommendation and suggested that a special committee of Vice Chancellors could be set up to examine this question in detail. In the statement of national policy on education of the Government of India, it was laid down that work experience and national service should be an integral part of education. In May, 1969, a conference of the students' representatives of the universities and institutions of higher learning convened by the Ministry of Education and the University Grants Commission also unanimously declared 'that national service could be a powerful instrument for national integration. It could be used to introduce urban students to rural life. Projects of permanent value could also be undertaken as a symbol of the contribution of the student community to the progress and upliftment of the nation.

OBJECTIVES

The main objectives of NSS are:

1. Understanding the community in which they work.

2. Understand themselves in relation to their community.

3. Identify the needs and problems of the community and involve them in problem-solving.

4. Develop among them a sense of social and civic responsibility.

5. Utilise their knowledge in finding practical solutions to individual and community problems.

6. Develop competence required for group living and sharing of responsibilities.

7. Gain skills in mobilizing community participation.

8. Acquire leadership qualities and democratic attitudes.

8. Develop capacity to meet emergencies and natural disasters.

9. Practice national integration and social harmony.

NSS Volunteers and their Work:

Students who join this scheme are known as NSS Volunteers. There are a few responsibilities of NSS Volunteer:-

1.    Tree plantations inside the institute and nearby areas.

2.    Organizing Blood donation camp.

3.    Campus cleaning and dustbin installation.

4.    Adopting one of the villages nearby and contributing to its development.

5.    Attending special village camps (for creating awareness in villages), state-level camps (sports, yoga, art & craft camps), National level camps (youth festivals for sports and cultures, Integration camps, Adventure camps, etc.) and International Exchange Programmes (cultural exchange programmes).

6.    Celebrating World Environment Day, Women’s Day, Aids Day etc.

The Practise

Through regular activities, they have engaged themselves in the following activities:

1.    Blood donation camp.

2.    Workshop on Primary Life-Saving Methods.

3.    Cleanliness Programme.

4.    Community development programmes.

5.    Celebration of Independence Day, Republic Day, World Environment Day, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, National Youth Day, etc.

Evidence of Success

The NSS wing of Krishnagar Government College has witnessed many successes in recent years: 

1.    Priyanka Halder from our unit was rewarded with the Best Volunteer award on 11th August 2023. 

2.    Pipasa Ghosh from our unit has participated in the National Integration camp organized by the Regional Directorate of MSS, Kolkata at The University of Kalyani.

3.    Many volunteers have participated in different cultural programs like recitation, quiz competitions and extempore at the district and state levels.

4.    One male volunteer from our unit was selected for the Adventure camp in Manali.

Regional Directorate of NSS

Mr. Vinay, Kumar Regional Director
Dr. Saikot Chatterjee, Kalyani University, NSS Co-ordinator
Tanmoy Dey, NSS Programme Officer, Krishnagar Government College