Harsh Malhotra Committee on Scouts and Guides Submits Report to the Sports Ministry

A seven-member High-Level Committee on Scouts and Guides has submitted its Final Report to Minister for State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs & Sports, Vijay Goel with various recommendations.

Salient Highlights

The committee has suggested for the constitution of an Enquiry Committee to take stock of complaints and grievances and submit its report.
The committee has suggested for completely revamping the Bharat Scout & Guides and Hindustan Scouts and Guides. It has stressed upon the need for streamlining the organizational set up of Bharat Scouts and Guides and Hindustan Scouts and Guides. It has also said that it has observed a number of irregularities and anomalies in the financial management of the Scouts and Guides which are audited by the Chartered Accountant. So, the committee has recommended for the constitution of a permanent monitoring Committee to periodically assess the activities of both the organisations and submit report to the Union Sports Ministry.
The committee has suggested for the nomination of government nominees on the Boards of both the organizations.

Background

After receiving various complaints from various sectors against the Bharat Scouts and Guides and Hindustan Scouts and Guides, sports ministry had constituted a seven-member High Level Committee under the chairmanship of Harsh Malhotra in October 2016 to look into the infrastructure and assets of the two recognized Scouts and Guides Organizations.
The high level committee submitted its first interim report on January 31, 2017 recommending to make Scouts movement as an integral part of Youth movement.

Bharat Scouts and Guides and Hindustan Scouts and Guides are the two organizations recognized by the Sports Ministry for conducting scouting and guiding activities across the country. These two organizations also receives grant-in-aid for conducting the scouting/guiding activities.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2017