Madhya Pradesh unit of Bharat Scouts and Guides braves public apathy and resource crunch to reach out to more and more young people with a view to develop civic participation. Despite growth in terms of total enrolment, the organisation faces low participation of girls and lack of interest on part of guardians.
“An excessive focus on career and academic achievements has brought down the concern for overall development of the personality which is possible only by a healthy interaction with the society. This is reflected in the dwindling enthusiasm towards scouting activities,” opined Prakash Disoriya, State Organising Commissioner (SOC) at State headquarters of Bharat Scout and Guides.
“Although we have managed to maintain or even increase the registration of young people in scout and guide organisation here, the fact is that the zeal of community service and participation is missing. A major factor is that parents see scouting activities as mere wastage of time and thus discourage children to participate. Another factor is that the level of encouragement that should come from the side of Government is somehow missing,” he said.
Disoriya informed that the state unit Bharat Scout and Guides recorded a strength of 5,23,012 in the year 2012 making it among top three States of the country in terms of total registrations. Out of this, however, only 36,436 are girls. Notably, the number of registrations has recorded an increase from 4,61,862 in the year 2008-2009.
However, as already pointed out, the number of registrations does not reflect the level of active participation. He informed that the State government had made it compulsory for every school in the state to have a unit of scout and guides. Thus, it is not numbers but the intensity and quality of participation that is a real problem.
The other problem is dwindling support from government. Disoriya informed that until the year 1995, the scouts with Governor’s Award were given a bonus of 10 marks in State board exams. Such measures are necessary to promote participation, he remarked.
In addition to this, sources in the state unit of Bharat Scout and Guides informed on condition of anonymity that the organization has been facing resource crunch for some time now. It was pointed out that scouting fees charged from the children in government schools stopped after coming to force of Right to Information Act, 2009. Although, the organization is provided with funds from the Rajya Shiksha Kendra (RSK) and Tribal Welfare Department, it is not sufficient to cover its burgeoning expenses.
Speaking about the current priorities of the organization, Disoriya said, “The focus is on increasing participation of girls and on quality scouting. Besides, we are also focusing on private schools affiliated to CBSE to promote scouting activities and also to raise funds. In addition to this a series of programmes are in the pipeline to increase popular awareness and participation in scouting. People should be informed that scouting is even good for increasing academic performance.”