President Abdul Hamid on Monday asked the authorities concerned to continue their efforts to increase the number of scouts alongside ensuring their quality through effective training.
The President, also the Chief Scouts, came up with the directions while inaugurating the 50th Annual General Meeting (Golden Jubilee) of the National Council of Bangladesh Scouts and the awards giving ceremony at Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) in the city.
The President virtually joined the function from the Gallery Hall of the Bangabhaban while Bangladesh Scouts President Md Abul Kalam Azad and Chief National Commissioner Md Mozammel Haque Khan also took part in the event there.
Lauding the significant role of the scouts in serving the victims of disasters, including floods, cyclones, tidal surges and fires, in creating awareness about tree plantation, sanitation, health education, EPI programs, power and energy conservation, traffic management and the environment leading their respective fields of service.
"Bangladesh Scouts have formed 48 disaster response teams to deal with disasters. The scouts are also playing an important role, ” said Abdul Hamid
Mentioning scouting as an international voluntary, non-political and educational movement and in addition to conventional education, he also called upon all concerned to involve more youths in scouting side by side with the academic feat to build them good citizens.
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He added that the main objective of scouting is to develop children, adolescents and youths as ideal citizens through education through continuous and planned programs as scouting is a complementary education system.
Hamid said the scout movement is advancing with its outstanding contributions as well as glory in 171 countries across the globe while the number of scouts in Bangladesh at present is around 22 lakh.
The President said the government has extended all possible cooperation to promote the scout movement in Bangladesh. Through this, the capacity of Bangladesh Scouts will be further enhanced and the Scout members will be able to play a more effective role in building the country and the nation by imparting advanced training.
Emphasizing on empowerment of women in Bangladesh, he said boys as well as girls should be equally involved in scouting and if girls are left behind, the country’s development will be hampered.
Extending his best wishes and congratulations to all the scouts and rover scouts and leaders and guardians who have won the 'President's Scout Award', the highest award of 794 scouts in 2020 and the 'President's Rover Scout Award', the highest award of 14 Rover Scouts, he advised the scouters to reflect the scout ideology in everyone’s respective works in their personal, family and social life and dedicate themselves to the country’s development as a true patriot and volunteers.
The President said that nowadays, especially in urban areas, young boys are getting involved in various criminal activities including drugs and juvenile gangs.
He said scouting as one of the most important tools to keep children, adolescents and youth away from criminal activities, bigotry, sectarianism, terrorism and militancy.