Defence Minister A.K. Antony has stressed that equal opportunity must be given to girls to enroll in the National Cadet Corps.

Visiting the NCC Republic Day Camp in New Delhi, he informed that, in keeping with these principles, six out of 12 units have been raised in rural areas and six units are meant exclusively for girls.

The Defence Minister said that the expansion of the NCC from 13 lakhs to 15 lakhs was progressing as planned.

AIR correspondent reports, a total of 1,950 cadets, both boys and girls drawn from 17 NCC Directorates covering all the States and Union Territories of the country, are participating in the Republic Day Camp.

The cadets will take part in a number of activities like Cultural, National Integration, Awareness and Institutional Training competitions during the nearly month long Republic Day Camp.