National Service Scheme (NSS), under Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, is a Public Service program launched in Ghandhiji's Birth Centenary Year 1969 by the then Education Minister in 37 universities involving 40,000 students. (http://nss.nic.in/)
The Vision was building the youth through community service and in return building the Nation through these youth. As is visible on the site (above)
Quote "Today, NSS has more than 3.2 million student volunteers on its roll spread over 298 Universities and 42 (+2) Senior Secondary Councils and Directorate of Vocational Education all over the country. From its inception, more than 3.75 crores students from Universities, Colleges and Institutions of higher learning have benefited from the NSS activities, as student volunteers." unquote
the 2nd and more important part of the vision has blurred on its way in this journey from 1969 to 2013. (Please visit the site, there is so much more that might surprise you !!)
As a curriculum NSS form a part of many University Programs, Colleges and Institutes of higher learning but there may be no answer to the two important question that, if I have the liberty, I shall put. First, whether students have benefited from the NSS? If yes, in which parameter that benefit is reflected? Second, has NSS played any role in Nation Building and if yes, do we have any parameter as an answer to this question, can we really relate those numbers in terms of the quality of public services offered by these volunteers?
Having raised these questions, It is felt that there is a great opportunity here in a vision of putting the NSS curriculum to a better use and mobilize the youth force towards development of society and at the same time bringing in an amalgamation of traditional and formal knowledge thus to create Innovation.
One can establish the need for mobilisation of youth by grounding it on the need to harness the Demographic Dividend and more importantly channelise the energy to fruitful cause rather than letting this energy destroy our own self. Another very valid construct is the need for sensitisation of youth towards the community needs and culture. Creation of a youth force aware of the needs of Community and working as trustees of the society is the dream of every Gandhian Sociologist.
A very different view is not of a sociologist but of a scientific thinker, an Innovator, researcher who is hunting for knowledge in various phenomenon of nature. It is a proven fact today that a lot of scientific innovations are result of tested Traditional Knowledge or a mimicry of Raw Nature. Even the analysis, propagation and testing methods are inspired by nature. Sampling, population multiplication, Survival in the surrounding and evolution are some basic technique that arises form Traditional Experiences.
We can talk of many examples where the distance from our traditional knowledge has cost us a lot. Eg. Neem, tulsi, Haldi many other traditionally very important plants and their products have been used since ages without much of effort put to describe their scientific basis and reproduce in laboratory for commercialisation. What this suggests is that there is an alienation of Traditional Knowledge from formal Research and Development. NSS may address the need to bring the traditional knowledge nearer to the formal Institutions. While trying to develop the society we may develop our Institutions as well, rather I shall personally bank on second for becoming the game changer in future.
Almost all universities have NSS or NCC as subject, where in NSS has a great Social as well as Knowledge Potential, if there is a central monitoring and guidance of the activities done as a part of NSS.
There may be some of government programmes (Social) that may be implemented through NSS and shall also qualify as Community Service. This should facilitate interaction and understanding of traditional ways of people and thus a few sensitive minds could use that knowledge to create new technology in their own field. As a tried and tested Vision that we already have a very popular concept of "Honey Bee Network" (http://www.sristi.org/hbnew/index.php) and now "Innovation Clubs" thanks to the efforts of some great thinkers of our times like Sh. Anil Gupta and others with him working to create an Innovation Culture.
Here, I am writing to put this in as an Idea and request all innovators of the likes of Aditya and Rishiraj of NIT Silchar, (http://www.gsep.in/index.html) to try to bring a prototype in their own colleges, by clubbing this idea to a Great Social Initiative of their own. I really hope to see more such initiatives.
Having raised these questions, It is felt that there is a great opportunity here in a vision of putting the NSS curriculum to a better use and mobilize the youth force towards development of society and at the same time bringing in an amalgamation of traditional and formal knowledge thus to create Innovation.
One can establish the need for mobilisation of youth by grounding it on the need to harness the Demographic Dividend and more importantly channelise the energy to fruitful cause rather than letting this energy destroy our own self. Another very valid construct is the need for sensitisation of youth towards the community needs and culture. Creation of a youth force aware of the needs of Community and working as trustees of the society is the dream of every Gandhian Sociologist.
A very different view is not of a sociologist but of a scientific thinker, an Innovator, researcher who is hunting for knowledge in various phenomenon of nature. It is a proven fact today that a lot of scientific innovations are result of tested Traditional Knowledge or a mimicry of Raw Nature. Even the analysis, propagation and testing methods are inspired by nature. Sampling, population multiplication, Survival in the surrounding and evolution are some basic technique that arises form Traditional Experiences.
We can talk of many examples where the distance from our traditional knowledge has cost us a lot. Eg. Neem, tulsi, Haldi many other traditionally very important plants and their products have been used since ages without much of effort put to describe their scientific basis and reproduce in laboratory for commercialisation. What this suggests is that there is an alienation of Traditional Knowledge from formal Research and Development. NSS may address the need to bring the traditional knowledge nearer to the formal Institutions. While trying to develop the society we may develop our Institutions as well, rather I shall personally bank on second for becoming the game changer in future.
Almost all universities have NSS or NCC as subject, where in NSS has a great Social as well as Knowledge Potential, if there is a central monitoring and guidance of the activities done as a part of NSS.
There may be some of government programmes (Social) that may be implemented through NSS and shall also qualify as Community Service. This should facilitate interaction and understanding of traditional ways of people and thus a few sensitive minds could use that knowledge to create new technology in their own field. As a tried and tested Vision that we already have a very popular concept of "Honey Bee Network" (http://www.sristi.org/hbnew/index.php) and now "Innovation Clubs" thanks to the efforts of some great thinkers of our times like Sh. Anil Gupta and others with him working to create an Innovation Culture.
Here, I am writing to put this in as an Idea and request all innovators of the likes of Aditya and Rishiraj of NIT Silchar, (http://www.gsep.in/index.html) to try to bring a prototype in their own colleges, by clubbing this idea to a Great Social Initiative of their own. I really hope to see more such initiatives.
The more effective way of seeing the change is to coordinate all efforts in one direction. Something that can only be done by reviving the Spirit and Vision that was given originally to National Service Scheme, a vision of leaders of future connected to the grass-root level in society and identifying them as a part of a Global Community. Let us relive this vision.
~ Nalini Atul
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