India most sought-after for Rotary Youth Exchange

 

“Transforming landscape and upwards trajectory of Indian economy is now a focus of in-depth study world-wide and Rotary International is no exception,” said Rotary International President-Elect Mario Camargo. Elaborating on success of the organisation, Camargo added, “The flagship Youth Exchange programme of Rotary International sees more interest for visit to this ancient land.” On a two-day visit of the city, the veteran Rotarian compared the economies of Brazil, which he represents and that of India, saying earlier, their economy was twice the size of India. Now Indian economy has quadrupled to $ 4 trillion while Brazil numbers are constant at $2 trillion, he pointed out while answering querry as to top destinations for Youth Exchange programme.

 

“Youth from across the world showing keen interest in knowing India’s rapid economic growth to $4 trillion economy”, he said while interacting with newspersons on sidelines of Youth Exchange meet at Hotel Radisson Blu on Sunday, he elaborated on Rotary’s scope, its focus areas and future goals. Having travelled the world, Camargo was knowing what’s changing around, as he mentions that most Indians might not be knowing as to what has changed in their neighbourhood, but for those coming frequently, the fast change is simply dazzling. On top of that with India having lifted 400 million people out of poverty, next only to China, and the projections point to a rosy future. For Rotary, one of the key areas of focus is India indeed, especially for youths of Brazil. Even otherwise, India is now second biggest donor to Rotary Foundation, a philanthropic venture of Rotary International, next only to USA at $33 million. So now apart from one of the biggest recipient of funds for community projects, Rotary India is also a major contributor. So everyone is interested to know how the change has occurred, the factors that led to it and also study its impact on education and people of the country.

 

As to Rotary vision, the International President-Elect was firm that the organisation’s steadfast commitment to world peace is unwavering as it supports eight core areas including fighting diseases, combating hunger, eradication of polio, fighting illiteracy, and other pressing engagements. On post-polio scenario, he outlined several of ongoing corporate programmes, one of which might get taken up for replication on global scale. Rotary, Camargo mentioned, runs Peace Universities where it funds Youth’s education and they in turn contribute to various international agencies in common endeavour to foster close knit relationship among different communities world-wide. He added in near future India to might get one such centre. Since its inception, Rotary has seen through 2 world wars and many local conflicts, its ethos always centered around peaceful engagement, providing aid to communities in distress, building strong foundation for thriving inter-connectivity between different groups and culture.

 

Talking about the engagement of youth, Camargo was quite frank to admit that average age of Rotarian world-wide is on higher side and this necessitates engaging young population into the clubs. Just like family or business, Camargo emphasised on a elaborate succession plan as part of its commitment to future endeavors. Though he added that there is no readily available solution but for the brand Rotary to survive and thrive, participation of Gen Next is needed on more wider scale building upon the Rotary Youth Exchange programme as Camargo himself is product of the same venture. Yes, definitely pandemic, the COVID-19 left a deep impact on humanity, he stated while speaking about emergence of technology saying when all hope was lost, it kept open communication challenges in those critical times. But Camargo was quick to add that digital connect is okay but face-to-face contact is most important to make lasting impact. And summing up he stated emphatically, Rotary thrives when in danger and it is first to response in time of crisis. Rotary International Directors T N Subramanian from Mumbai and Anirudh Chowdhury from Kolkata along with Rotary District 3030 President Rajinder Singh Khurana were also present during the media interaction.