Scouts and guides are for the first time being introduced in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike colleges
By Thanuja.M
Bengaluru, April 10, 2019.
The BBMP has for the first time introduced scouts and guides in their pre-degree colleges. This facility was available only in private schools and colleges before.
It is a great step taken by the BBMP to introduce it at the college level, where the guides are called rangers.
Usma, who is a ranger now said, “I am very proud to be a ranger. The BBMP has done a good job by introducing scouts and guides in colleges. Being a part of it has brought great discipline in my life. We, who study in government colleges, mostly come from lower income backgrounds. Thus we do not have great aims in our lives. But being a part of this has given us a purpose and helped us decide what we want in our life.”
The students who are part of the rangers have great goals in their lives. Many of them wanted to become the future administrators of India.
At different ages, the scouts and guides are called different names. The children between the ages of 3-6 years are called “bunnies”. The motto of the bunnies is ‘Keep Smiling’. The boys and girls from the ages of 5 to 10 are called “cubs” and “bulbuls”, respectively. The motto of the scouts and guides is ‘Be Prepared’. Ages 10 to17 are “scouts” and “guides” for girls. Older members age 18-25 are the “rovers” and the “rangers.” The motto of rovers and rangers is ‘Service’.
Chellaiah, who is the nodal officer for scouts and guides said, “Bengaluru is the 34th districts in Karnataka to have scouts and guides. We introduced this in 2017 – 2018. It has been introduced in almost all BBMP schools. We have different mottos for each age group.
“The administrative wing of the BBMP has encouraged us in bringing this up to this level. The scouts and guides uniforms have been provided for by the government through Karnataka State Handloom Limited.
The main reason for introducing this in schools and colleges is to make them better citizens for the future. There are currently 5,000 students enrolled in this program. Through this, the children will be able to provide better service to the society. The will become the role model for the future generations.”
