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Scout movement on the decline
The leisure time in the life has become a commodity and everyone wants their time should be worthy to spend. The number of scouts and guides, who spend more time in service to society, has reduced over the years, while teachers who should encourage children to learn social responsibility have no time to spare without honorarium from the government.
With academics getting competitive, parents want their kids to concentrate on studies
Ongole: The leisure time in the life has become a commodity and everyone wants their time should be worthy to spend. The number of scouts and guides, who spend more time in service to society, has reduced over the years, while teachers who should encourage children to learn social responsibility have no time to spare without honorarium from the government.
Scouting in India was started in 1909 while the first Guide company was formed in 1911. Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, Pandit Hrudaynath Kunzru, Pandit Sriram Bajpai, Dr Annie Besant, GS Arundale and other nationalist leaders are behind the Scouts and Guides movement in India.
Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana is the president of wings of the Scouts and Guides of both states. The organisation encourages spirituality, loyalty to country, responsibility for development of self with participation in development of society.
In Andhra Pradesh, the first Scout unit was formed by Chivukula Srikrishna Siddhanthi, in Ongole around late 1940s. The Scouts and Guides movement witnessed great support from the present Prakasam, Nellore and Guntur districts once. Once, there were about 25000 candidates from each district, with more than one unit from each school.
About 500 Scout teachers worked in each district. There were 58582 candidates in Scouts and Guides in 2009-10. The number reduced to 47124 in 2013-14 and then to 27510 in 2014-15, after bifurcation. Today, the government schools are in no position to setup the Scouts and Guides units while the Kendriya Vidyalayas and some aided schools in the districts had about 30 units in each district.
Annamraju Subba Rao, state council member for the past 12 years and secretary for the Bharat Scouts and Guides in Prakasam district for the past 25 years explains the reasons. He said, “The government does not pay any honorarium to the staff, they voluntarily come forward to work as Scout teachers. They incur charges, uniforms and stationary expenses to prepare files and reports that are to be sent to the district and state head quarters.
The government even forgot to apprise the teachers who are balancing their regular work along with the Scouts and Guides. When the teachers are not coming forward to setup the units in their schools, there would be no registrations of Scouts and Guides automatically.”
However, the government officials say that they are trying to increase the Scout units and encourage the teachers to go for training. S Uma Devi, State Organising Commissioner of Scouts and Guides said, “We are planning to increase the number of Scouts in each district. As there is no allowance for teachers, they are not coming forward to work with us and encourage students. But we are asking them to come forward as its motto is service.
The parents also not encouraging their children to join Scouts as the certificate does not give weight-age marks in competitive exams.” Muvva Ramalingam, DEO of Prakasam district said, “As a Scout and NCC student, I encourage students and teachers to take part in the service units. We are now strengthening the Scouts wing in the district by selecting 300 interested teachers.
The first level motivation was given to them and about 50 of them are already attended for the initial stage training. With them we are going to concentrate on setting up more units in the district from the next academic year. As about 50 per cent of the students are in private schools, their parents are not concern about the service units and they look for marks and ranks. If the headmasters and teachers of the government schools can explain to the parents of students the importance of service through Scouts and Guides, NCC or Junior Red Cross, they may join their wards.”
Satish Kumar Yanamandra, CEO of Abhyas Human Resource Ltd., and a former Scout share his experience as, “The youth today are taught to be selfish so they do not care about their neighbours or society. Parents want their children just to excel in academics. They are training their children to be robots, which do not have any emotions.
The parents who have encouraged their children to be selfish are suffering in old age and complaining about their loved ones. If children learn that service to society is nothing but service to self, then they will become sensitive towards the issues of neighbours, which forms a good and livable society.”
