Service Activities Outside India
In the 4 Mission centres and 11 combined Math and Mission centres in Bangladesh; other Mission centres in Fiji, France, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nepal, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Switzerland and Zambia and 24 Math centres in other countries, our Swamis gave lectures at the centres and also in colleges, universities, etc, conducted religious classes, observed religious festivals with special worship, organized seminars, and held retreats. Some of them also brought out publications on philosophical subjects and spiritual teachings. Some of the activities undertaken by these centres during the year are enumerated below.
Relief Work
The details of the relief operations conducted are given below:
| Sl. | Type of Relief | Country | Conducted through (centre) |
| 1 | Disturbance/ Distress Relief | Bangladesh | Baliati, Chittagong, Dhaka, Dinajpur, Habiganj, Mymensingh, Rangpur |
| 2 | Fire Relief | Bangladesh | Dhaka |
| 3 | Flood Relief | Bangladesh | Dhaka, Dinajpur |
| Sri Lanka | Colombo | ||
| 4 | Refugee Relief | Bangladesh | Chittagong, Dhaka |
| 5 | Winter Relief | Bangladesh | Baliati, Chandpur, Chittagong, Dhaka, Dinajpur |
Medical Units
During the year the following medical and allied units provided their services to the poor and the and the needy.
| Units | No. of Units | Break-up of Total Patients | ||
| Male | Female | Child | ||
| Dispensaries (Allopathic) | 18 | 75,883 | 80,903 | 20,584 |
| Dispensaries (Homeopathic) | 21,178 | 29,253 | 9,121 | |
| Dispensaries (Ayurvedic) | 2,000 | 1,000 | 145 | |
| Eye Camps | 1 | 500 | 500 | – |
| General Medical Camps | 12 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 640 |
| Total | 31 | 1,03,561 | 1,15,656 | 30,490 |
Educational Units
In the year under review, the following institutions provided educational services.
| Institutions | No. of Units | No. of Students | ||
| Boys | Girls | Total | ||
| Higher Secondary Schools | 1 | 426 | 558 | 985 |
| Chatuspathi (Sanskrit Pathshala) | 1 | 124 | – | 125 |
| Secondary Schools | 1 | 280 | – | 281 |
| Junior High / Middle Schools (VI-VIII) | 1 | 120 | 88 | 209 |
| Jr. Basic / UP/ LP Schools (I-V) | 6 | 220 | 215 | 441 |
| Pre-Basic / KG/ Nursery Schools/ Crèches | 5 | 426 | 281 | 712 |
| Hostels / Students’ Homes | 16 | 714 | – | 730 |
| Orphanages | 4 | 94 | 65 | 163 |
| Computer Training Centres | 6 | 518 | 181 | 705 |
| Vocational Training Centres | 2 | 182 | 14 | 198 |
| Coaching classes | 203 | 4,267 | 3,540 | 8,010 |
| Total | 246 | 7,371 | 4,942 | 12,559 |
Vocational Training
Details of various types of training provided are given below.
|
Vocational Courses |
Batches Trained | No. of Students | ||
| Boys | Girls | Total | ||
| Agriculture, Horticulture, Floriculture, etc | 3 | 107 | 14 | 121 |
| Automotive Servicing & Repairing | 1 | 15 | – | 15 |
| Basic Computer Operations | 1 | 60 | – | 60 |
| Total | 5 | 182 | 14 | 196 |
Rural Welfare Work
Under the Rural Welfare scheme, our centres provided the following items/help.
| Items / Help Given | Quantity | No. of Beneficiaries | |||
| Male | Female | Child | Total | ||
| Educational Kits* | 40 | – | – | 40 | 40 |
| Clothes | – | 6,682 | 33,836 | 952 | 41,470 |
| Pecuniary Help for | |||||
| – Medical needs | – | 55 | 47 | – | 102 |
| – Educational needs | – | 133 | 190 | 6 | 329 |
| – Miscellaneous needs | – | 526 | 220 | 2 | 748 |
| Others | – | 3,940 | 3,500 | – | 7,440 |
Spreading of Moral, Cultural and Spiritual Ideas
This was accomplished through a number of libraries, lectures, regular classes, public celebrations, etc.
|
Libraries & Reading Rooms |
No. of Units | No. of Books | Newspapers | Periodicals | Attendance |
| Public / Schools / Colleges | 35 | 96,920 | 42 | 527 | 44,150 |
Our centres also published valuable books and 11 periodicals in 5 languages.
During the year, our swamis gave lectures at the centres and also in colleges, universities, etc; conducted religious classes, observed religious festivals with special worship, organized seminars, and held retreats. The details of which are given below:
| Preaching / Lectures | No. of Classes, etc | Attendance |
| Classes / Lectures | 1,812 | 4,29,655 |
| Retreats | 60 | 26,324 |
| Celebrations / Public Meetings | 134 | 4,39,245 |
News from centres outside India
A memorial shrine dedicated to the Holy Trio was constructed by our Colombo centre, Sri Lanka, at Thambyah Mudaliyar Chathiram, a pilgrims’ resting place, in Colombo where Swami Vivekananda was given a grand reception on his return from the West in January 1897. The place was also visited by some more monastic disciples of Sri Ramakrishna in later years.
Dhaka (Bangladesh) centre, held the concluding phase of its year-long centenary celebration with special worship, public meetings, conventions for youths, women and devotees and cultural programmes.
Three statues of Swami Vivekananda were installed at the Newcastle, Chatsworth and Phoenix sub-centres of Durban centre, South Africa. The centre held a programme at a public auditorium in Durban to mark the conclusion of its year-long platinum jubilee celebrations.
The students’ team of our Swami Vivekananda College in Fiji won the National Championship in the National Swimming Competitions 2017 held by Fiji National Swimming The students secured the following medals: Gold: 49, Silver: 26, Bronze: 19.
The newly built Sri Ramakrishna Temple at Jessore (Bangladesh) centre was consecrated.
The new kitchen-and-dining-hall building built at a home for terminally ill patients in Inanda, South Africa, was inaugurated. The building was constructed by Pheonix centre, South Africa.
A new altar was consecrated at the shrine of Portland (USA) centre.
The year-long silver jubilee celebration of Sarada Kindergarten of Singapore centre was inaugurated and a commemorative volume was brought out.