On the foundation day of one of India's oldest youth-service programmes, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai stood with the students and educators who give the National Service Scheme its meaning — honouring dedicated volunteers and programme officers at a state-level felicitation ceremony in Raipur on Thursday, 24 September 2026.

Raipur ceremony marks NSS Foundation Day

The event, organised to mark the NSS Foundation Day, recognised outstanding volunteers and programme officers from both school and college levels across Chhattisgarh. CM Sai, who addressed the gathering, described NSS as a 'sashakt madhyam' — a powerful medium — for connecting youth to social service and nation-building by nurturing values of service, dedication, and civic responsibility.

The occasion also saw the release of 'Samarpan' ('Dedication'), a magazine documenting NSS activities across the state over the past year. The publication offers a record of the programme's grassroots footprint — from rural outreach camps to urban awareness drives — making visible work that often goes unnoticed.

Fifty-seven years of student service: what NSS represents

The National Service Scheme was launched in 1969 by the Central government to build a bridge between higher education and voluntary community service. Today it operates across thousands of schools and colleges, channelling student energy into health, literacy, environmental, and disaster-relief work. The scheme falls under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and runs through central-state coordination, making state-level ceremonies like Raipur's a direct expression of that partnership in action.

For Chhattisgarh — a state with large tribal and rural populations — the programme carries particular weight. NSS camps in remote districts frequently serve as the first point of contact between college students and underserved communities, building both civic habits and leadership instincts in young volunteers.

What CM Sai said to the honoured volunteers

Sai offered heartfelt congratulations to all the young volunteers recognised at the ceremony, saying that the values of service and dedication being cultivated through NSS are giving youth 'a new direction in life' while strengthening their sense of responsibility and leadership. The message was directed at @_NSSIndia and the wider NSS community, underlining the state government's commitment to youth-centric civic programmes.

The foundation day ceremony doubles as a motivation moment — a public signal that student service work is valued at the highest levels of state government, not merely logged in institutional registers.

As the next academic year begins to take shape, the spotlight now falls on how Chhattisgarh's NSS units translate this recognition into expanded volunteer enrolments and bolder community projects across the state.