KOZHIKODE: A former school teacher from Kozhikode has been selected for the Silver elephant honour by Bharat Scouts and Guides, their highest honour. Balachandran Parachottil, had already won a national award in teaching. The honour will be presented by President Pranab Mukherjee in a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Usually, award winners from the state have been high-level government officials and rarely teachers/trainers, said Mr Parachottil.
“I feel lucky to be honoured for the service offered to students for the past 35 years. It proves that even trainers at the grassroot level are eligible to win the highest honour in the country,” said the former teacher. Mr Parachottil has published four books on scouting - ‘Camps and hikes’, ‘Ambulance Man’, ‘Dvitiya Sopan Padangal’ and ‘A handbook for patrol leaders’. He is actively involved in the Former Scouts forum in Perambra. Under his patronage, more than 1,500 former scouts in Naduvannur and nearby areas had teamed up for preserving water resources.
A rain harvesting programme, Varshayanam, initiated by the team was very popular in the area. Mr Parachottil was earlier scout master, trainer, district training commissioner, state headquarters commissioner, state executive member and assistant state commissioner and has conducted more than a hundred training camps at the national and international level. He has also received the professional excellence award, Bahratiya Siksha Gold medal.
