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The Vice President, Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat honoured 18 volunteers of Scouts & Guides and Rangers with the Up-Rashtrapati Awards for their outstanding services at a function at the Vice President House, here today. These awards have been instituted by the Bharat Scouts & Guides, of which the Vice President is the Chief Patron.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Shekhawat said that Scouts & Guides is an important movement for channelising the energy of our youth in a constructive manner and can play a significant role in fighting the problems like corruption, population explosion and environment degradation etc. He said that our country has made a significant progress and has achieved self-sufficiency in food-grains and holds sufficient foreign exchange reserves and our youth have earned international recognition and admiration in the fields of Medicine, Engineering, Information Technology etc. We have also progressed admirably in Space & Nuclear Sciences and Defence Technology.
But, in spite of all this progress, Shri Shekhawat said that a large segment of our population is forced to live in conditions of abject poverty and does not have adequate access to housing, drinking water, education and medical attendance etc. Underlining corruption and ever-increasing population as one of the main reasons hindering our progress, he suggested that the Scouts & Guides can play an important role in this regard by creating awareness among the masses and helping the authorities by identifying and reporting such problems to the local authorities during their camps, particularly in rural areas.
The Governor of Orissa and the Chairman of the Bharat Scouts & Guides , Shri Rameshwar Thakur, the National Commissioner of Bharat Scouts & Guides, Shri Lalit Mohan Jain and a number of other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
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