by Dr. S. Kumar
Dr. S. Kumar is the Director of Bharat Scouts & Guides/India. He joined the Scout movement as a group Leader in 1967. He was Jt. State Secretary, Secretary at Sub National Level. Dr. Kumar is an educator with a doctoral degree in educational administration.
Bharat Scouts & Guides/India is fortunate to get the spirit of harnessing the freedom of the individual in the service of the community in the tradition of Indian Culture. Leaders like the late Jawaharlal Nehru, former Prime Minister of India and the late Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, former Education Minister, to name a few, were conscious of the youth power for the cause of the community. They, therefore, played a prominent role in unifying this youth power by merging various Scout organizations into one organization, i.e. Bharat Scouts & Guides in1950.
Training Programmes and Community
Scout Training begins with the solemn induction ceremony of a boy/girl. The steps in the training consist of formal and informal training with the objective of making him/her a good citizen of the country who serves the community. In India, a Scout's cherished dream is to become a Rashtrapati Scout. Before that, he/she has to cross several courses and camps such as Pratham Sopan, Dwitya Sopan, Tritya Sopan, Rajya Puraskar besides several Proficiency Badges. It may be mentioned that service to the community is a concomitant part of each course. Community service is also emphasized during the leaders' training programmes.
Group competitions and community
There are several group competitions in which community service plays a prominent role. Rovers and Rangers (ages 17-25 years) have to take up community service for one year, the most important element of the Uparashtrapati Award Competition. Similarly, the Prime Minister's Shield Competition is another group activity for Scouts and Guides. The group has to undertake community development activities for one year as part of this group competition. Every year, the group awards are given in a ceremony at the residence of the Vice-President of India and that of the Prime Minister of India. Community service forms the core of Scout training programme at different levels culminating into awards at the highest level. This shows the importance attached to Scouting Programmes not only by the organization but also by the authorities, which matter in the political and social milieu.
Independent projects as service to the community
Community service is not restricted to incentives gained by Scouts for achieving specific grades or certificates or awards. Bharat Scouts & Guides is one of the potent agencies in undertaking community service programmes through several twinning projects.
Pulse Polio Immunization (PPI).
Locally, Scouts play a large role for the success of PPI programme in collaboration with the government and Rotary International. Scouts make an informal survey of the locality, induce the parents to bring their babies to the nearest PPI camp and assist health authorities in administering the PPI.
Oral Rehydration Therapy.
Two years back, ORT programme was considered to be of urgent nature by the Ministry of Health. Scouts were tapped to implement the programme with a sense of urgency. ORT literature were prepared in local languages and distributed mostly in rural areas.
Safe Drinking Water.
In collaboration with UNESCO "Safe Drinking Water" projects were completed at sub-national level.
Cleanliness campaign (a global perspective).
Although cleanliness is a part of all Scout activities, a special drive is launched occasionally to create greater impact on the community. Recently, the Clean up the World (CUTW) project started throughout the country in collaboration with the Australian High Commission. Many of the Scout units adopt some of the habitations for undertaking intensive cleanliness drive.
Leprosy Eradication Programme.
AHM, Germany, in collaboration with Bharat Scouts & Guides, are instrumental in launching the Leprosy Eradication Programme in several parts of the country. Communities are benefitted through awareness campaigns, and by undertaking surveys, identifying the lepers and seeking the help and assistance of the Health Department. This programme is still in operation.
Identifying Deficiency of Iodised Salt
Bharat Scouts & Guides undertook a project "Identification of Deficiency of Iodised Salt" in collaboration with All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), a premier medical Institute. It was a unique exercise in which the Scouts and their leaders evinced enough interest to enable AIIMS to duplicate the project in other parts of India.
Health of Adolescents
Bharat Scouts & Guides is quite keen on this project in collaboration with the Health Family International and WAGGGS. The project was set to be completed in March 2000. Several community projects are undertaken in partnership with other agencies. These bring Scouting closer to communities and heighten the image and visibility of Scouts. On many occasions, Bharat Scouts & Guides take initiative in community service in times of accidents and calamities. Yeomen's service was rendered in earthquakes (Latur earthquakes in Maharashtra and Uttar Kashi earthquake in U.P.). BSG continues to assist in the supercyclonic devastation in Orissa. A community hall is under construction in one of the localities.
Further moves
Still, many areas in community development need the intervention of the Bharat Scouts & Guides. Literacy and population education are two of such areas. Cub-Bulbul games are proven to be effective as non-formal educational supplement to formal education at low cost. So much so that the World Bank offered to the Bharat Scouts & Guides to undertake a specialized activity which may work as a role-model for other states.
Conclusion
It is evident that Bharat Scouts and Guides tries to translate Scouting into community service. The association is on the advisory council of the Disaster Management Programme at national level and efforts are made to strengthen its Disaster Management Cell. It is hoped that the Bharat Scouts & Guides will keep up 'Scouting Efficiency for the Service of the community' .
From the Asia-Pacific Scouting Newsletter.