Mysuru: The colourful march-past and cultural programmes by the participants from various states marked the conclusion of the 17th National Jamboree for Scouts and Guides at Adakanahalli Industrial Area here on Tuesday.

Nearly 35 teams, led by Nepal, followed by Saudi Arabia and several states from India including host Karnataka presented a colourful march-past amid band performance during the valedictory function.

As scheduled former prime minister H D Deve Gowda and other ministers including H C Mahadeva Prasad could not attend the valedictory function, due to sudden demise of Mahadeva Prasad. However Power Minister D K Shiva Kumar who attended the function said due to untimely death of minister Mahadeva Prasad, the state government had declared a mourning and assured of all sorts of help from the state government. Prof Vasudeva Devanani, Education Minister of Rajasthan was the chief guest and took the salute from the marching contingents.

Four teams in race for overall championship:

According to Surekha, Coordinator of National Jamboree, “During the last National Jamboree, Rajasthan had emerged as overall champs. We have three judges who are senior leaders of Scouts and Guides to judge the performances of the participating team. They look into overall performance of the participants before deciding on the overall champions. The performance in each and every activity will be observed before awarding the championship title. Host Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan who have come out with outstanding performances are the favourites for overall championship title.”

Participants and leaders wear black badge:

As a mark of respect and condolence, the Scouts and Guides and the leaders in the National Jamboree wore black bands.