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Archives of
Activities Report
News Archives
Relief News Archives
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From April 2006 to March 2007 |
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Activities of Ramakrishna Math and
Ramakrishna Mission |
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1. During the year under
review the Mission and Math had the following medical
and allied units.
2. Specialised medical
treatments : The following special treatments were provided
by some of our centres through their hospitals, dispensaries,
special programmes, camps, etc.
a. Tuberculosis
cases were treated at the 150-bed sanatorium in Ranchi, the TB
Clinic attached to Delhi centre as also by our centres at
Bhopal, Chennai Math, Dehradun, Kamarpukur, Lucknow, Narainpur,
Patna, etc.
b. Leprosy case
detection and treatment was done by our centres at Ichapur,
Kamarpukur, Lucknow, etc.
c. Maternity and child
welfare services were provided by our hospitals in Kolkata (Seva
Pratishthan), Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram and Vrindaban and also
by some dispensaries.
d. Psychiatry
treatment was provided in our Thiruvananthapuram, Kolkata (Seva
Pratishthan), Vrindaban and Lucknow hospitals and also by some
dispensaries.
e. Eye treatment
was rendered by our centres at Bhopal, Garbeta, Kamarpukur,
Patna, Porbandar, Rajkot, Ulsoor, and so on, and at the
hospitals in Lucknow, Muzaffarpur, Vrindaban, etc. Besides, many
centres have separate eye-department attached to their
dispensaries.
f. Neurology
department functioned at the hospitals in Itanagar, Kolkata (Seva
Pratishthan), Lucknow, Varanasi, etc.
g. Physiotherapy
treatment was provided by our centres in Delhi, Itanagar,
Kolkata (Seva Pratishthan), Lucknow, Nagpur, etc. The centres at
Rajkot and Visakhapatnam had special clinics for providing
physiotherapy treatment to cerebral palsied children.
Besides, many centres had
special departments for dental surgery, ENT, cardiology,
paediatrics, acupressure, acupuncture, etc. Many centres
provided ayurvedic treatment also.
3. Medical Camps :
89 eye camps were conducted, in which 6469 patients were
operated on for cataract free of charge. Besides these, a
considerable number of medical camps for health awareness,
dental care, child care, general medicines, etc were organised.
The total expenditure
incurred for medical work during 2006-07 was Rs. 61.55 crore.
The Math
and the Mission centres lived up to their reputation in the
field of education. Apart from excellent academic performance,
the students won laurels in sports and other extra-curricular
activities. The educational work of the twin organizations has
been summarized in the following table.
The total expenditure
incurred for educational work during 2006-07 was Rs. 111.60
crore.
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III.
Work in Rural and Tribal Areas : |
Rural and tribal
welfare work has come to occupy a prominent place in the
list of services rendered by the Math and the Mission. This
kind of service is done in three ways:
(a) through our centres located in rural
and tribal areas;
(b) through our urban centres which have
taken up development projects in rural and tribal areas; and
(c) through our educational and medical
institutions in semi-urban areas, where rural people form a
significant percentage of the beneficiaries.
Besides, the
Headquarters also directly conduct Pallimangal
(integrated rural development) activities in selected
villages. The Math and the Mission spent a sum of Rs. 18.62
crore for rural and tribal development work, apart from the
huge expenditure incurred by the educational and medical
institutions located in rural and tribal areas.
The rural and tribal
activities may be broadly grouped under the headings : (i)
General; (ii) Agricultural; (iii) Educational and
Self-reliance training; and (iv) Medical.
i. General :
Attempts were made to create awareness amongst villagers
regarding sanitation and cleanliness. Drinking water was
provided by digging bore wells and tube wells. Construction
of pucca houses, low-cost toilets, and so on ensured
a healthier living. Religious and moral classes were
conducted and cultural functions were arranged.
ii. Agricultural :
Free soil-testing was done. Farmers were taught improved
methods of cultivation through our institutes like
agro-clinics, and were also provided with agricultural
inputs and financial help. Projects such as wasteland
development, planting of fruit and forest trees, etc were
undertaken.
iii. Educational and self-reliance
training : Free schools were
run for children. They were provided with free board and
lodging and aids like stationery, clothing, etc. Adult and
non-formal education centres were run. Night schools for
labourers and working children evoked good response.
Audio-visual shows, farmers’ fairs and the like were held.
Self-help groups and training schemes were organized for
teaching lathe-turning, carpentry, bee-keeping, pisciculture,
dairy and poultry-farming, weaving, incense-stick rolling,
etc to enable the rural and tribal folk to achieve
self-reliance.
iv. Medical :
Mobile dispensaries supplied free medicines to a large
number of patients, and organized free diagnostic and
eye-operation camps. Besides, preventive and promotive
measures were undertaken through health education and
immunization schemes / programmes on a regular basis.
The centres in Aalo
(Along), Antpur, Chapra, Cherrapunjee, Coimbatore Mission,
Ichapur, Jayrambati, Kamarpukur, Kalady, Malliankaranai
(Tamil Nadu), Manasadwip, Mysore, Narainpur (Chhattisgarh),
Narottam Nagar, Nattarampalli, Ramharipur, Sargachhi,
Sarisha, Shivanahalli (Bangalore), Viveknagar (Agartala),
Thrissur, etc, directly catered to the needs of rural and
tribal folk in a big way, and a number of rural units were
run by the centres at Belur (Saradapitha), Contai,
Narendrapur, Ranchi (Morabadi), etc. Of these, special
mention may be made of the numerous village units started
for educating the hill tribes in Meghalaya, various village
development programmes conducted by Narendrapur (Kolkata)
centre catering the needs for all-round village development,
as well as the farming centre in Ranchi, specially meant for
Schdeuled Tribes and people belonging to the Scheduled
Castes. The tribal development project of our centre at
Narainpur has made a significant contribution towards the
all-round development of the local tribes. Our educational,
medical and cultural activities in Arunachal Pradesh have
proved to be very useful and popular.
The centres engaged
in the rural welfare activities conducted the
following service activities :
A. Medical Units :
In the year under review the Math and Mission
had the following medical units in rural and tribal areas :
B. Educational
Institutions : In the year
under review the Math and Mission had the
following educational institutions in rural and tribal areas
:
Besides, they ran 61
libraries and 15 audio-visual units, all dedicated to the
service of rural and tribal people.
C. Pallimangal
Activities : The activities
under Pallimangal (a pilot project, which was originally
initiated in 1980 by the Headquarters) continued in the
villages in and around Kamarpukur and Jayrambati in West
Bengal. The major service programmes conducted under this
project during the year are given below:
(i) Agricultural Development Programmes : (a) Soil
analysis was done for 433 soil samples, and agricultural and
technical guidance was given to farmers. (b) Under the Seed
Production Unit, certified mushroom seeds were produced on
large scale during the year. More than 150 species of herbal
plants were cultivated at the herbal resource garden in
Kamarpukur. It helped and encouraged farmers for cultivation
of medicinal herbs. (c) For spreading awareness of the
benefits of renewable sources of energy, the use of solar
photovoltaic and solar thermal systems was promoted.
(ii) Medical Activities: (a) 14,735 patients were
treated by the mobile medical unit. Special medical
programmes and camps, and health care and awareness
programmes were conducted at Kamarpukur. (b) Under
Leprosy Eradication Programme, after an extensive survey
and medical examination, 511 persons were given treatment.
(c) A programme on Control of Tuberculosis through
Community Based Directly Observed Treatment with
Short-Course-Therapy (DOTS) under Revised National
Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) continued, under
which 17 cases were treated during the year. (d) 656
patients were operated on for cataract under National
Blindness Control Programme. (e) Extensive survey and
medical examinations were done along with health education
campaign under National HIV/ AIDS Control Programme
launched during the year. (f) Nutritious diet was provided
to children at Kamarpukur under Child Nutrition Programme.
(iii) Educational and Cultural Activities : (a) 18
non-formal education centres and 24 free coaching centres
benefited 1405 students. (b) An audio-visual unit screened
31 educative films in 21 villages benefiting about 20,700
villagers. (c) A number of students were given textbooks,
uniforms, etc. Scholarships and financial assistance were
given to a number of students. (d) Cultural programmes,
competitions in sports and games, etc were also organized.
(iv) Training Programmes : 62 poor men and 11
destitute women were trained in apiculture, weaving, jute
handicraft, dhoop-making, TV repairing and food-processing
projects.
Thus the year witnessed an expansion in
the activities, as in previous years, resulting in better
utilization of the available infrastructural facilities. The
statistics relating to the institutions furnished in this
section form part of the figures already mentioned under
‘Medical Service’ and ‘Educational Work’.
The Mission and Math
conducted several relief and rehabilitation operations
during the year. The details of the operations are given
below.
i) Primary Relief:
The following major items were
distributed during the relief operations:
A sum of Rs. 3.56 crore (Rs. 2.64 crore in cash and Rs. 0.92
crore in kind) was spent on primary relief operations to
help 5,67,186 people of 1,30,198 families from 2027
villages.
ii) Rehabilitation Work:
A sum of Rs. 30.17 lakh was spent on
these rehabilitation projects during the year 2006-07 apart
from the expenditure incurred by Batticaloa (Sri Lanka)
centre.
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V.
Women Welfare Programmes : |
Both the Mission and the
Math have permanent programmes for service to women, the most
important of which are mentioned below.
1. Care for pregnant and nursing women
through the maternity departments of our hospitals in Kolkata (Seva
Pratishthan), Vrindaban, Thiruvananthapuram and also through
other hospitals and clinics run by us.
2. Old-age Home for women in Varanasi.
3. Educational service to girls :
(a) A large educational complex exclusively
for girls, known as Sarada Vidyalaya Mission centre, in Chennai,
offering education to girls from the primary to the
higher-secondary level.
(b) High schools for girls run by Chennai
Math, Jamshedpur and Sarisha centres.
(c) A higher secondary school for girls in
Chengalpattu.
(d) A primary
teachers’ training institute in Sarisha.
Apart from the above, there are
co-educational schools of different grades under our centres in
Aalo (Along), Coimbatore, Chennai (T Nagar), Kalady, Jayrambati,
Bhubaneswar, etc. Besides, a Sanskrit co-educational school is
functioning at Kalady.
4. Nurses’ Training Institutes attached to
five of our hospitals in Kolkata (Seva Pratishthan), Lucknow,
Vrindaban, Itanagar and Thiruvananthapuram.
5. Programmes for enhancing women
empowerment by forming self-help groups, imparting vocational
training and the like for making them self-reliant.
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VI.
Youth Welfare
Programmes : |
Apart from the educational and cultural
programmes for students conducted by our educational centres,
some of our Mission and Math centres have separate
recreational and cultural centres called Balak Sanghas
(for children) and Yuvak Sanghas (for youths) in
Bangalore, Chennai (Math), Hyderabad, Malda, Mangalore,
Mysore, Pune, Ranchi (Morabadi), Salem, Visakhapatnam, and a
few other places. In these centres, children are provided
supplementary nutrition and guidance in the practice of
social, moral and spiritual values, and are also taught the
basics of scriptures, chanting, devotional music, etc.
The various activities of the Math and
Mission were spread over both in rural and urban areas. The
participation of lakhs of people in the annual festivals and
celebrations was indicative of the steady growth in the
spreading of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda message. The ashramas
and temples situated all over the country drew a great
number of people throughout the year. The medical
institutions provided medical facilities free or at
concessional rates to lakhs of poor patients. A considerable
number of poor students were provided free board and lodging
in our educational institutions. The libraries and
reading-rooms attracted a large number of readers. The
publication centres brought out subsidized editions of
selected books to enable the masses to have access to them.
Both the Math and the Mission centres laid
emphasis on the dissemination of the spiritual and cultural
ideals of India. Through various types of activity, they tried
to give a practical shape to the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna,
especially that all religions are true. The centres established
real points of contact among people of different faiths through
public celebrations, meetings, classes, publications, and so on.
During the year, 211 libraries, containing a large number of
books and journals, were run. Attached to these libraries,
reading-rooms were maintained in many places. Institutes for
Sanskrit studies—a college, 3 schools, a Chatushpathi and
a Pathashala—were run. At least 14 centres published
journals in different languages. The Math centres in Baghbazar
(Kolkata), Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Hyderabad, Nagpur, Mayavati,
Mysore, Rajkot and Thrissur in particular, have to their credit
a considerable number of popular publications. Some of our
foreign centres too are publishing valuable books. Besides,
programmes like cultural competitions for students, different
cultural and value-oriented classes, seminars, etc and projects
like Jnanavahini with lectures, educational and religious
film shows and exhibitions, guided meditation and personality
development classes, book sales, etc are conducted to spread
spiritual and cultural ideas, especially in the interior parts
of the country, by centres like Belgaum, Chennai Math,
Hyderabad, Kadapa, Mysore, Ranchi (Morabadi), Vijayawada, etc.
Most of the Math and Mission centres observed
the days sanctified by the advent of great saints and prophets.
Besides, a few centres celebrated some of the popular Hindu
festivals and also Christmas Eve. The general features of the
celebrations of the birthdays of Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother
Sri Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda were: special worship,
homa, chanting from scriptural texts, bhajan and
sankirtan, distribution of prasad to the devotees,
feeding of the poor in large numbers, and lectures by the
sannyasins of the Order and other eminent speakers. Thus the
message of Sri Ramakrishna and his direct associates was spread
steadily. Many ardent souls came in close touch with the ideals
of the Math and Mission.
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