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A BRIEF HISTORY OF NATIONAL SERVICE SCHEME (NSS)

National Service Scheme was launched on 24th September 1969 for all undergraduate students which also happened to be the centenary year for the services of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi. It was launched in 37 Universities, including Aligarh Muslim University, involving 40,000 students with primary focus on the development of personality of students through community service. 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 labor service by Indian students for one year was stressed. 

In 1958, the then Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, in a letter to the chief ministers, considered the idea of social service as a prerequisite for graduation. He directed the Ministry of Education to formulate a suitable scheme for the introduction of national service into academic institutions.