Lok Sabha Question No. 300 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-19
Subject: Enrolment of Youth Volunteers
Ministry: YOUTH AFFAIRS AND SPORTS
Asked by: Girish Bhalchandra Bapat, Rahul Ramesh Shewale, Pritam Gopinath Munde, Chandra Sekhar Sahu

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF YOUTH AFFAIRS AND SPORTS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.300 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.07.2022

## Enrolment of Youth Volunteers

300. SHRI GIRISH BHALCHANDRA BAPAT:

SHRI RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE: DR. PRITAM GOPINATHRAO MUNDE: SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR SAHU:

Will  the  Minister  of  YOUTH  AFFAIRS  AND  SPORTS  be  pleased  to state:

- (a) whether it is a fact that youth had played tremendous role in civil society during the Covid pandemic in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  increase  the  enrolment  of  youth volunteers in the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangthan and National Social Service programmes with the aim to increase participation of youth in nation building in the country;
- (d) if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether the Government proposes any incentives to youths who enrol in such organisations in the country; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof and if not, the details of the steps taken by the Government in this direction?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF YOUTH AFFAIRS AND SPORTS (SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR)

- (a) & (b): Yes,  Sir.  The  youth  had  played  tremendous  role  in  civil  society during  the  COVID  pandemic  in  the  country.  The  details  are  given  at Annexure-I.
- (c) & (d): Nehru  Yuva  Kendra  Sangathan  (NYKS)  through  its  Youth  Club Development  Programme  forms  new  Youth  Clubs  and  thereby  increase

participation  of  youth  in  nation  building  in  the  country.  NYKS  organizes various  programmes/activities  through  its  core  and  special  programmes  to enhance the participation of youth in nation building activities in the country. NYKS has planned following two programmes during the financial year 202223 in this regard:(i)    District  Youth  Club  Development  Campaign:  aims  at  strengthening  the Youth Club network with Formation/Activation & Updation/Fresh affiliation of Youth Clubs and documentation of Unsung Heroes. (ii) Individual Volunteer Enrolment Program: Enrolment of volunteers in each district in individual capacity. Further,  the  Ministry  of  Finance  and  the  Union  Cabinet  have  recently approved  opening  of  3000  new  NSS  Units  (1  unit=100  volunteers).  On allocation  of  3000  New  NSS  Units  to  the  States/UTs,  the  strength  of  NSS volunteers, across the country, has been increased from 36 lakh to 39 lakh. (e) & (f): The Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India has instituted the National Service Scheme (NSS) Awards in 1993-94 to recognize and reward outstanding contributions towards voluntary community service made by the Universities/ Colleges, (+2) Councils and Senior Secondary, NSS Units/  Programme  Officers  and  NSS  Volunteers,  with  a  view  to  further promote NSS in the country. The details of 'Number of Awards' and 'Value of Awards' under NSS Awards are attached at Annexure-II.

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## ANNEXURE-I

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) & (b) OF THE LOK SABHA  UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.300  FOR  19.07.2022  ASKED  BY SHRI GIRISH BHALCHANDRA BAPAT,  SHRI RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE, DR.  PRITAM  GOPINATHRAO  MUNDE  AND  SHRI  CHANDRA SEKHAR SAHU REGARDING ENROLMENT OF YOUTH VOLUNTEERS

## Voluntary Action by NYKS Volunteers to combat COVID-19

Considering the enormity and emergency of the situation, NYKS undertook various initiatives such as encouraging people to wear Masks and preparation of Homemade Masks, Maintaining Social Distancing, Hand Wash, Hygiene and Personal Cleanliness, assisting District Administration  in  maintaining  control  rooms  and  facilitating  relief  operations  and  support  to needy, underprivileged, old people, migrant labourers and other vulnerable groups. As a result of this initiative:

-  2.19 Crore persons motivated by NYKS volunteers to download Aarogya Setu App.,
-  61.35Lakh NYKS and NSS Volunteers enrolled on covidwarriors.gov.in,
-  1.46 Crore citizens trained in making face masks at home,
-  22.78 Lakh elderly people given care for their protection against the COVID-19,
-  7.39 Lakh Divyangs reached out and given care during the period,
-  19 Lakh volunteers added during COVID-19 Pandemic, and
-  62 Lakh volunteers trained on modules of IGOT/MOHFW/WHO/NCDC.

## " बदलकर अपना åयवहार , करɅ करोना पर वार " Campaig n

The behaviour change campaign " बदलकर अपना åयवहार , करɅ करोना पर वार "  was started by NYKS on 1 st June, 2020. It contained a number of Videos and Audios of Hon'ble Prime Minster, Celebrities  like  Sh.  Amitabh  Bachchan,  Sh.  Sachin  Tendulkar  and  Sh.  Akshay  Kumar  and  9 ready to use stencils/posters provided by Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India. As a part of this initiative:

-  2.37  Lakh  Advocacy  Activities  were  organized  with  the  participation  of  72.75  Lakh youth;
-  9687  Capacity  Building  activities  were  organized  and  there  by  1.54  Lakh  members  of Youth Clubs were sensitized through webinars, virtual modes, social medias;
-  For  Community  Engagement  and  Accountability,  NYKS  successfully  disseminated  the 09 Stencils/Posters and 05 Audio & Videos to about 1.17 Lakh villages and more than 57.33 Lakh persons through 98,696 activities .

## Intervention of NYKS during Second Wave of Pandemic and afterwards

During  the  Second  Wave,  NYKS  focused  on  areas  such  as  Comprehensive  Awareness Dissemination  and  Community  Mobilization  for  pro-active  testing  and  encouraging  eligible people  for  vaccination,  COVID Vaccine Rollout- Dissemination of correct information on the benefit  of  vaccine,  building  confidence  regarding  vaccine  safety  and  environment  building  on universal vaccine acceptability, Awareness dissemination and message amplification of COVID appropriate behavior and Training Programme through Webinars with associated stakeholders

## Jan Andolan: Awareness and Education for Appropriate Behavior to Combat COVID-19

Considering the fact that Adopting appropriate behaviour norms by people are really required to contain the  spread  of  COVID-19 Pandemic.  NYKS  initiated this  programme  with a  view to educate & motivate people to observe appropriate behaviour norms to combat COVID-19 and successfully reached 3.42 Crore Citizens through various activities.

## Tika Utsav:

NYKS  organized  Tika  Utsav;  a  comprehensive  programme  of  testing  and  vaccination  from 11 th April,  2021  with  a  view  to disseminate  awareness  and  community  mobilization  for  proactive testing  and encourage eligible people for vaccination, build public confidence regarding vaccine safety and addressing fears over adverse impact and environment building for universal acceptability and encourage and motivate people to adopt COVID-19 appropriate behaviour and protocol.

Through  this  initiative,  NYKS  organized 47,638 activities  with  the  active  support  of 4.29 Lakh Youth  Volunteers,  COVID  Warriors,  Members  of  Youth  Clubs  and  others  and  in  the process,  10.29 Lakh  people and  other  associated  stakeholders were  reached  out  and  motivated for pro-active testing and encourage eligible people for vaccination.

## COVID Vaccine Rollout:

NYKS contributed  in  the  COVID  Rollout  Campaign  with  the  support  of  its  National  Youth Volunteers  and  Members  of  Youth  Clubs.  NYKS  focused  on  dissemination  of  correct information on the benefit of Vaccine, building confidence regarding vaccine safety, encouraged people to adopt appropriate behavior and environment building on universal vaccine acceptability.

As a part of the above initiative, NYKS organized 12,164 activities with the participation of 9.10 Lakh Youth Volunteers, Members of Youth Clubs and other stakeholders.

## Combating COVID: Mass Awakening and Action Campaign:

NYKS  also  organized  various  activities  under  an  umbrella  programme  namely  Combating COVID-Mass Awakening and Action Campaign in its core programme across the country with participation of 16.17 Lakh youth and other stake holders.

## NYKS Initiatives and Services to the Nation during second wave of COVID-19: Prevention, Management and Relief Activities across India

All  NYKS officials  focused  on  the  key  priority  areas  like  Awareness  on  Vaccine  rollout  and registration,   IEC  activities including Do's and Don'ts for Preventing and Mitigating COVID 19,  Formation  of  Social  WhatsApp  Groups,  Aarogya  Setu  App  -  Downloading,   using  and referencing,  Social  Distancing,  Hand  washing,  Popularizing  and  motivating  people  Masks Preparation  at  Homes  and  Enhancing  Youth  Volunteers  Base  for  wider  coverage  and  reach across the country as well as Registering and Training of Volunteers on iGOT as well as through other agencies.

## a) UNICEF supported Young Warriors Campaign

5,679 Virtual  Training  Programme  were  conducted  with  the  support  of  UNICEF.  During  the training, the  subjects  like process  for registration and taking pledge to act as Young  Warrior, COVID Appropriate Behaviour programmes to contain further spread of COVID-19 (Wearing of  face  mask,  maintaining  social  distancing,  Sanitization  and  Washing  of  hands  at  regular intervals), Encouraging people to De-stigmatize COVID-19, etc. were covered.

Through these training programmes, 3,09,850 NYKS officials, COVID Warriors, Members of Youth Clubs, Ganga Doots, Disaster Response Team Members and other stakeholders across the country were trained. 2,88,827 youth and others got registered themselves as Young Warrior. 2,52,604 youth took pledge to act as Young Warrior.

## b) Other major achievements

-  The  contact  details  of  NYKS  Nodal  Officers  of  State  and  District  has  been  updated  on COVID warrior portal.
-  Nearly 82,381 youth volunteers were trained on iGOT Portal for DoYA were trained.
-  In almost in all Districts, NYKS Volunteers are promoting making of Face Masks at Home as  well  as Preparing  and  distributing face  masks  to  needy  and  how  to  use  them  and sensitized people.
-  1,91,265 Families were sensitized to take special care of Elderly People  in their families for their Protection against COVID-19 across the country
-  89,265 people were sensitized to support families with persons infected with COVID-19.
-  27,116 Volunteers and  Officials  of  NYKS  have  been  engaged  by  District  Administration and Gram Panchayats for facilitate various services and handling crowds at places. Besides, the  activities  such  as  Public  announcements,  Working  in  Control  Rooms  set  up  by  the District Administration/Police have also been carried out.

National Service Scheme (NSS) : NSS also played an important role during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period. NSS volunteers along with the alumni team were actively involved in providing assistance to the Authorities during COVID-19 pandemic.

Many of young volunteers actively helped the Hospital authorities for collection of samples, in maintaining social distance and helped the patients to get daily food items etc. from outside when they  were  in  quarantine.  Face  masks  use  was  promoted  by  these  volunteers  through  several videos, posters and slogans which were shared electronically during various phases of lockdown at a large scale.

When all the things were uncertain these dedicated NSS Volunteers came  forward to provide food,  water,  medicines  etc.  to  the  needy  people  through  personal  collections,  helping  in community  kitchens  etc.  NSS  volunteers have  been  actively  contributing  in  COVID-19 vaccination rollout campaign through various activities. The major activities carried out by NSS are as under:

-  18.01  Lakh  NSS  volunteers have  been  enrolled  for  providing  emergency  response. Apart from the existing volunteers, an increase of 7.90 lakh volunteers under NSS was done for wider coverage and reach across the country.
-  On boarding on iGOT Portal and Training: As per iGOT data available on date, 13.80 lakhs NSS volunteers have been educated in iGOT Portal.
-  Downloading  Aarogya  Setu  App: More  than 52.90  Lakh  NSS  volunteers have downloaded  Aarogya  Setu  App  for  popularizing  it  among  citizens  for  Training  and learning purposes
-  Making Face Masks at Home: In  almost  all  the  Districts,  NSS  Volunteers  sensitized 2.34 Crore citizens for making of Face Masks at Home and their distribution among the needy.
-  Support  to  District  Administration : 1,27,078  NSS  Volunteers  and    36,242  NSS functionaries have been engaged by the District Administrations for facilitating various services  and handling  crowds  at  places viz. Banks,  Hospitals, Grain  distribution Operations, Vegetable Markets, etc.
-  Translation  of  Information  and  Education  Material  in  Regional  Languages :  For wider dissemination and understanding for COVID-19 prevention and management, IEC materials  have  been translated into 26 Regional languages in  the  form  of  videos and stencils  which  were  uploaded  on  YouTube  channels  as  well  shared  on  E-Posters  by 2,82,604 NSS volunteers.
-  Capacity  Building :  In  all,  about  NSS 25,  81,421  volunteers have  been  trained  on various  training  modules  through  iGOT/State  Governments/Webinar  with  MoYAS Officials, NCDC, ICMR, etc.
-  Awareness,  Outreach  and  Community  Service :  NSS  Volunteers  were  involved  in activities  viz.  Demonstration  of  Hand  Wash;  Sanitation  Drives  in  markets,  streets  and other public  places;  Making  Public  announcements in streets, market places for prevention  of  COVID-19;  providing  food,  groceries,  vegetables  to  needy;  Working  in Control Rooms set up by the District Administration/Police, and any other requirements from time to time.
-  COVID-19  vaccination  rollout  campaign-  12,  50,  122  NSS  volunteers  from  7,006 institutions across  the  country  actively  contributing  in  COVID-19  vaccination  rollout campaign  by  various  activities  like  Mobilization/Community  Engagement,  Capacity Building, Display & Dissemination of IEC Material, Public Announcements, assisting at COVID vaccination center for successfully implementation of this drive.
-  84,57,827 No of volunteers shared the videos and stencils on COVID-19
-  No of people reached & expected no of beneficiaries: 2.64 Crore

ANNEXURE-II

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (e) & (F) OF THE LOK SABHA  UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.300  FOR  19.07.2022  ASKED  BY SHRI GIRISH BHALCHANDRA BAPAT,  SHRI RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE, DR.  PRITAM  GOPINATHRAO  MUNDE  AND  SHRI  CHANDRA SEKHAR SAHU REGARDING ENROLMENT OF YOUTH VOLUNTEERS

The details of Number of Awards and Value of Awards are as follows;

|   S. No | Category                               | No. of Awards   | Value of Award                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
|---------|----------------------------------------|-----------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       1 | University/ +2 Council                 | 02              | First Award : Rs.5,00,000/- (for NSS Programme Development) with a Trophy to the University/ +2 Council. A Certificate and a Silver Medal to the Programme Coordinator. Second Award : Rs.3,00,000 lakh (for NSS Programme Development) with a Trophy to the University/ +2 Council. A Certificate and a Silver Medal to the Programme Coordinator. |
|       2 | NSS Units and their Programme Officers | 10 + 10         | Rs.2,00,000/- to each NSS Unit (For NSS Programme Development), with a Trophy. Rs. 1,50,000/- to each Programme Officer with a Certificate and a Silver Medal.                                                                                                                                                                                      |
|       3 | NSS Volunteers                         | 30              | Rs. 1,00,000/- to each Volunteer, with a Certificate and a Silver Medal.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |

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