Make military training compulsory in schools: BJP MP

NEW DELHI: Military training should be made compulsory in schools to inculcate discipline among youths and check the spread of naxalism and drug addiction, a BJP member today demanded in Rajya Sabha.

Avinash Rai Khanna (BJP) introduced The Compulsory Military Training Bill, 2012 as a private members' bill, saying a disciplined youth is the need of the hour for the country who can build society and provide relief to people in need.

The Bill seeks to provide for compulsory military training to all youths in the country and to include military training in curriculum for children from matriculation to graduation level.

"Compulsory military training not only makes a youth healthy but also helps in getting rid of drug addition," he said, adding the data generated from such training would help in identifying the youths who are actively engaged in nations development.

Regretting that NCC activities have come down in educational institutions, he sought adequate support from the government to revitalise NCC. Supporting the bill, E M S Natchiappan (Cong) such training will inspire and encourage the youths to serve the nation.

"Nowadays we are deviating from national patriotism. This has to be addressed with adequate training programmes," he said. He said the education system should be such that along with knowledge, it instills a sense of patriotism among the students, he said. Biswaraj Patil (BJP), Vijila Sathyanath (AIADMK) and Satyanarayan Jatiya (BJP) also spoke. The discussion on the bill remained inconclusive.