Funds under Rajiv Gandhi Adventure Scheme

The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs and Sports Shri Sarbananda Sonowal has said that Rajiv Gandhi Adventure Scheme (RGAS) was launched as a Programme component under the National Service Scheme (NSS) on 26th June, 2009. Under the Scheme, camps are conducted across the country and the adventure activities undertaken in these camps include trekking (mountain and desert), white water rafting, para-sailing, para gliding and basic skiing. The salient features of RGAS are as under: (i)            To inculcate the spirit of adventure and discipline amongst the youth (ii)          To develop team building, comradeship, character building and national          integration. (iii)        To enhance self-confidence and develop leadership qualities among the volunteers. (iv)        To promote risk taking abilities and creating awareness about India.  (v)    To promote adventure, rural, eco and community tourism and creating self-employment opportunities in adventure tourism.  (vi)   To provide a readily available pool of first responders to facilitate immediate search, rescue and evacuation in case of natural calamities like earthquakes and floods etc. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha today Shri Sonowal said, during the financial year 2014-15, Rs. 1.55 Crore have been released for organizing  Adventure Camps for 1500 NSS volunteers and 150 NSS Programme Officers. The details of the funds allocated/released for all States/UTs are given in Annexure- I. He said, the Adventure Courses are conducted in the batches comprising of 40 volunteers each. An annual Action Plan is prepared in the beginning of the financial year giving Schedule for conducting different activities including adventure camps. The implementation of these programmes is regularly monitored at various levels through periodical reports.