Activities 2023-24 : Welfare Programmes for Women, Children and Youth

Women’s Welfare Programmes:

• Both the Mission and the Math have round-the-year programmes for the welfare of women, the most important of which are mentioned below:
• Care for pregnant and lactating women through the maternity departments of our hospitals in Kolkata (Seva Pratishthan), Vrindavan, Thiruvananthapuram and through some of our other hospitals and clinics.
• Old Age Homes for women in Varanasi and Kolkata (Barisha).
• Educational services to girls:
  • A large educational complex, exclusively for girls, run by Ramakrishna Mission Sarada Vidyalaya, Chennai, offering education to girls from primary to higher secondary level.
  • Higher secondary schools for girls run by Chennai Math and Chengalpattu centres.
  • High schools for girls run by Jamshedpur and Sarisha centres.
  • Apart from the above, there are co-educational schools of different grades under our centres in Aalo, Bhubaneswar, Chennai (Mission Ashrama), Coimbatore (Mission), Jayrambati, Kalady, and so on. Besides, a Sanskrit co-educational school is functioning at Kalady.
• Nurses’ Training Institutes are attached to our hospitals in Itanagar, Kolkata (Seva Pratishthan), Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram and Vrindavan.
• Women’s empowerment programmes by forming self-help groups, study circles, imparting vocational training and other such activities undertaken by several Math and Mission centres.

Children’s and Youths’ Welfare Programmes:

• Gadadhar Abhyudaya Prakalpa: This is an integrated child development project aimed at the all-round development of underprivileged children within the age group of 5 to 12 years. Children are provided coaching in their school subjects and given classes on values education, music, drawing, etc. Children also take part in prayers, sports, and games. Milk and other nutritious food, dresses, stationery items, educational aids and toiletry are provided to them, and periodic health check-ups are conducted. In the year 2023-24, 144 units of Gadadhar Abhyudaya Prakalpa were run by 16 Math centres and 42 Mission centres with the financial assistance of Rs.   7.94 crore from Headquarters. In all, 8313 children (4074 boys and  4239 girls) benefited through this project.
• Vivekananda Abhyudaya Prakalpa: Started as an extension to Gadadhar Abhyudaya Prakalpa, the project lends a helping hand to students in the age group of 13 to 17 years to stand on their own feet.  In addition to attending coaching classes on school subjects, the students learn basic computer operations and spoken English.  Vocational training in sewing and computer hardware/software is also given. In the year 2023-24, 11 units of this project were run by in Ghatshila, Dehradun (2 units), Cooch Behar, Rajamahendravaram, Khetri, Ranchi TB Sanatorium, Ranchi Morabadi, Nabadwip, Belgharia and Sarisha centres with the financial assistance of Rs. 60.48 lakhs from Headquarters benefiting 438 students.
• Vivekananda Shiksha Prakalpa: This project was launched in 2022 for imparting values education to students in a structured manner. Seven units of the project were run at Coimbatore Mission, Kanpur, Malda, Narendrapur, Rajkot and Saradapitha, Vadodara centres covering 625 students in the year 2023-24. In addition to attending classes on the campus, students took part enthusiastically in fieldwork at different sites.
• Balak Sangha and Yuvak Sangha: 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 forums called Balak Sanghas (for children and teenagers) and Yuvak Sanghas (for youths) in Belagavi, Bengaluru, Halasuru, Kanchipuram, Kankurgachhi, Kayamkulam, Limbdi, Madurai, Mysuru, Pune, Rajkot, Ranchi (Morabadi), Salem, Vijayawada and a few other places. In these centres, children are provided with supplementary nutrition and guidance in the practice of social, moral, and spiritual values, and are also taught the basics of scriptures, chanting, devotional music and so on.
• Mass Contact: The activities of the Math and Mission centres are spread in both rural and urban areas. The participation of lakhs of people in the annual festivals and celebrations is indicative of the steady growth in the propagation of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda message. The ashramas and temples situated all over the country drew a great number of people throughout the year.
• Celebrations: Most of the Math and Mission centres celebrated the birthdays of great saints and prophets, popular Hindu festivals, Buddha Purnima and Christmas Eve. The general features of the celebrations of the birthdays of Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda are special worship, homa, chanting from scriptural texts, bhajans and sankirtan, distribution of prasad to devotees, feeding of the poor in large numbers, and lectures by the sannyasins of the order and other eminent speakers. Through all these activities the message of Sri Ramakrishna and his direct associates was spread steadily. Many ardent souls came in close touch with the ideals of the Holy Trio.