President Droupadi Murmu presented the National Service Scheme (NSS) Awards for the year 2021-2022 at Rashtrapati Bhavan on September 29.

The ministry of youth affairs & sports presents the National Service Scheme Awards every year to recognise and reward outstanding contributions towards voluntary community service made by the universities/+2 Council, programme officers/NSS units and NSS volunteers.

National Service Scheme (NSS)

• The National Service Scheme (NSS) was launched on September 24, 1969 with the primary objective of developing the personality and character of the student youth through voluntary community service. 

• The ideological orientation of the NSS is inspired by the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi. The motto of NSS “Not Me But You”, reflects the essence of democratic living and upholds the need for selfless service. 

• NSS attempts to establish meaningful linkages between ‘Campus and Community’, ‘College and Village’ and ‘Knowledge and Action’. 

• NSS was launched in 1969 in 37 Universities involving about 40,000 volunteers which has now spread over 657 universities and 51 Plus Two Councils/Directorates, covering 20,669 colleges/ technical institutions and 11,988 Senior Secondary Schools. 

• At present, NSS has about 40 lakh volunteers on its rolls across the country.

• Since its inception, over seven crore students have benefited from NSS.

• Each NSS volunteer is required to put in a minimum of 120 hours of service per year for two years. This work is undertaken in villages/slums adopted by the NSS unit or in school/college campuses, usually after study hours or during weekends/vacations.

• It is being implemented as a Central Sector Scheme. Currently, funding is provided for running of core NSS activities with Rs 250 per volunteer per annum for regular NSS activities and Rs 450 per volunteer (50 per cent of volunteers in a particular year) for special camping activities.

Objectives of NSS: 

NSS aims at developing the following qualities among the volunteers:

i) To understand the community in which the NSS volunteers work and to understand themselves in relation to their community.

ii) To identify the needs and problems of the community and involve themselves in problem solving exercise.

iii) To develop among themselves a sense of social and civic responsibility.

iv) To utilise their knowledge in finding practical solutions to individual and community problems.

v) To gain skills in mobilising community participation.

vi) To acquire leadership qualities and democratic values.

vii) To develop capacity to meet emergencies and natural disasters.

viii) To practice national integration and social harmony.

NSS logo

The logo for the NSS has been based on the Rath Wheel of Konark Sun Temple in Odisha. The wheel portrays the cycle of creation, preservation and release and signifies the movement in life across time and space, The wheel thus stands for continuity as well as change and implies the continuous striving of NSS for social change.

Every year, September 24 is celebrated as NSS Day.

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