Rajnath felicitates members of NCC expedition team that summited Mount Everest

New Delhi, Jun 12 (PTI) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday felicitated members of an expedition team of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) whose members recently summited Mount Everest and successfully unfurled the tricolour there.

Ten NCC cadets (five male and five female), four officers, two junior commissioned officers, a female cadet instructor and 10 non-commissioned officers achieved the feat of scaling the world's highest peak in the early hours of May 18.

"Honouring the raw courage, grit and patriotism of the team, led by Col Amit Bisht, he (Singh) presented a cheque of Rs 10 lakh for achieving the feat in the harshest of conditions without any injury," the defence ministry said in a statement.

He felicitated the NCC mountaineering expedition team, comprising cadets aged 19 on average.

During the event held at the South Block here, the cadets shared their experiences of the expedition, detailing the rigorous training, meticulous planning and challenges encountered.

Terming the cadets as a source of inspiration to the younger generation, he said with the expedition, the brave cadets have sent a message that even the world's highest peak is no limit for the youth of the country.

The expedition was flagged off by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh from New Delhi on April 3. The achievement marks the third successful NCC expedition to Mount Everest, following earlier triumphs in 2013 and 2016, the ministry said.

The ten cadets from the team are — Cadet Monika from Rajasthan; Cadet Pratima Rai from West Bengal; Cadet Rifiness Warjri from Meghalaya; Cadet Kritika Sharma from Himachal Pradesh; Cadet Abida Afreen from Ladakh; Cadet Mohit Knathia from Jammu & Kashmir; Cadet Padma Namgail from Chandigarh; Cadet Virendra Singh Samant from Uttarakhand; Cadet Sachin Kumar from Uttarakhand and Cadet Mukul Bangwal from Uttarakhand.

DG NCC Lt Gen Gurbirpal Singh was among the dignitaries present on the occasion.

The expedition team also included a contingent of officers, junior commissioned officers, instructors and non-commissioned officers. The team consisted of Subedar Major Balkar Singh, the first Subedar Major of the Indian Army to summit Mount Everest.

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