A hundred and thirty-five principals of city-based educational institutions came together under the aegis of Volunteer for a Better India (VBI), at an event called, ‘The Council of Principals’ (COPS) , to discuss the vital theme of "The Role of Youth in Nation Building and Importance of Democracy and Voting”.
The Council of Principals (COPS) is a forum created by VBI for all the principals functioning under Bangalore University (BU), Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS), and Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU). Youth hold the key to the future of the country, and it is to discuss ways and means to secure their greater involvement and engagement in the democratic and electoral processes, that the event was held.
Speaking on the occasion Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of Living, who was the key-note speaker, said, “Anger and frustration of youth should be guided in a creative way for nation- building for the sake of a vibrant democracy. Otherwise, this will lead to destruction and increase in frustration and crime rate among youth. Youth should identify fake voters and encourage unregistered voters to register themselves.”
“Vote-athon”, a competitive electoral initiative, designed and enabled by the youth of The Art of Living's social-service platform, VBI, was also launched, to inspire and enable youth to register as voters. Youth from around two hundred colleges are expected to participate in the Voteathon.
Addressing the gathering, Ms. Kiran Bedi, Social activist stressed that, “Generating wealth should not be the only thing taught in schools and colleges. Creation of character-based wealth generation should be the goal of teachers.”
Mr. Munir Ahmed, Principal of RGUHS felt that, “Principals of all colleges should ensure that all their students register themselves as voter and ensure that students vote.
Volunteer for a Better India, the social-initiative platform of Art of Living, has undertaken the mission to increase the voting percentage across the nation. Approximately 49,000 people have already been facilitated in the voter registration process through 61 camps across Bangalore.