It was time for young scouts and guides to share what they experienced beyond their training that includes trekking, camping and serving people in the rural areas.

The occasion was the presentation ceremony of the Rajyapuraskar awards at Raj Bhavan in the City on Wednesday.
 
It was a day filled with enthusiasm and inquisitiveness for most children who were at Raj Bhavan for the first time, to receive their awards and certificates. While the stint has helped a few children learn life skills, it has helped others to boost their confidence.

A total of 2,672 candidates are eligible to be certified in Karnataka under  Bharat Scouts and Guides, for 2013-14. Out of this, 500 students including Cubs, Bulbuls, Scouts, Guides, Rovers and Rangers were handed over their certificates by the Governor.

Real struggle

For 15-year-old Eshwar from Gulbarga district, it was the village interaction programme under his Scouts and Guides training that helped him see the real struggle of people in villages.

“We saw how they struggle even to get food,” he said, speaking to Deccan Herald, at the presentation ceremony. The boy whose aim is to get the Rashtrapathi award, added that staying in a cement factory was a different experience.

Tejaswini, from Sree Cauvery School, said that it was pioneering that interested her the most.

“We were taught how to make essential tools such as ropes, using what were readily available. It gives a sense of independence,” she said.

She added that her village training sessions in Doddaballapur had made her confident and outspoken.

Responding to difficulties

“We were taught to respond to their difficulties. We would collect and distribute clothes and stationery to the needy as part of the initiative,” she said.

Governor HR Bhardwaj who spoke on the occasion expressed his disappointment over the recent tragedy that struck engineering students from Hyderabad, who were on a tour of Himachal Pradesh.

On duty

“In our days, Scouts and Guides and also guards would be on duty all the time in places where emergencies like these could arise. Other voluntary organisations like Red Cross and Nightingales would join hands. However, nothing of that sort happened,” he said.

Kimmane Ratnakar, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education and Rajneesh Goel, Principal Secretary, Department of Higher Education, were also present on the occasion.