Photo: Prakhar Pandey
At an austere yet memorable function hosted on December 7 near Wazirpur village in Sector 92 of India’s Millennium City, President Pranab Mukherjee dedicated two institutions: the Pranavananda International School, and the Home for Senior Citizens, instituted by Bharat Sevashram Sangha (BSS), a Kolkata-based missionary organisation. Apart from a residential English-medium co-educational Higher Secondary school and an old age home, this project also includes a dispensary, a prayer hall and a Sant Niwas catering to the needs of thousands residing in adjoining villages. However, the hostel facilities will only be for boy students, numbering around 300; the girl students will be admitted as day scholars. President Mukherjee also laid the foundation stone for the prayer hall of the Sangha’s chapter in Gurgaon. Governor of Haryana, Kaptan Singh Solanki was also present at the ceremony, along with the State’s Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu (who represented the Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar). The General Secretary of the Sangha, Swami Biswatmananda and his monks welcomed the guests.
Speaking on the occasion, the President lauded the multifarious social welfare activities being undertaken by the BSS, as also their contribution to the spread of spiritual values in the society. A Hindu, charitable non-governmental organisation, BSS was founded in 1917 by Acharya Srimat Swami Pranavanandaji Maharaj. It has set up hundreds of ashrams across India and even abroad – in England, USA, Canada, Guyana and Bangladesh. It has facilitated several humanitarian missions to African countries, Malaysia and Indonesia. BSS monks have also been associated with UN delegations to Syria and Lebanon. The President made mention that BSS was going to launch a series of celebrations (that have begun with this ceremony), culminating in its Centenary celebrations in 2017. He hailed BSS’s contribution towards the development of the people at large, and the financially weak and neglected sections in particular. He said that though these aspects form the Government’s topmost public welfare agenda, co-operation in this direction can (and should) be provided by non-governmental agencies. BSS is contributing in the spheres of health, education and self-employment. The President recalled having inaugurated a (BSS) multi-specialty hospital in Kolkata in 2010. In the healthcare sector, BSS is running a number of hospitals, clinics and mobile dispensaries. He stated that BSS has also played a diligent role in rescue and relief operations during natural calamities, such as during the devastating floods in Uttarakhand last year and in Jammu and Kashmir recently. The President also noted that BSS today has over one hundred chapters and 550 sub-units or ‘Milan Mandirs’. Regarding the educational mission of BSS, around 60 schools are functioning under its auspices - including an international school in Guyana. Former West Indies cricket team skipper Shivnarine Chanderpaul is an alumnus of this school. The schools in India are affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). A school managed by BSS in the Surat region of Gujarat boasts of nearly 13,500 students on its rolls! The students in these schools, mainly hailing from the economically weaker sections of society, are provided with study materials, food and uniforms free of cost. Further, numerous other social development centres, aimed at the upliftment of people of all faiths, are operated by the organisation.
Pranavananda International School, which the President inaugurated, has been meticulously planned not only to impart academics in a pragmatic manner but also to tap the young pupils’ intellects and hone their special skills. Two organs of Indian Railways - IRFC and RITES - have liberally funded this project. The Home for Senior Citizens has been set up by BSS to provide the aged a congenial atmosphere wherein they can rediscover their skills and be dynamic participants of various social and allied activities. Swami Atmajnanananda, Secretary of the Delhi chapter of BSS and also custodian of the Gurgaon unit of the Sangha, co-ordinated the success of this function that was presided over by the nation’s First Citizen. Swami Atmajnanananda said that various activities have been mooted by his organisation for this region. He stated, “The Project will not only help deliver on some basic needs of thousands of people residing in the adjoining village areas, but will also help the people to develop socially, financially and culturally.”
The founder of BSS, Swami Pranavanandaji, was born in 1896 at Bajitpur (in present-day Bangladesh). Even at a young age he actively participated in the revolutionary movement in Bengal, and at the age of 28 he was initiated into sanyas (monkhood). To Swamiji, Bharat Sevashram Sangha was a medium to liberate the society from backwardness, superstitious beliefs, inequality and social injustice.
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