Hindu Seva Pratishthana to Celebrate 25th year

MANGALORE,NOVEMBER 10: The Hindu Seva Pratishthana is celebrating its 25th year of existence and it has chalked out a nine-month celebration in the State to mark the 25th year. Briefing presspersons here on Wednesday, pratishthana director Sridhar Sagar informed that the pratishthana which has the objectives of rectifying the internal conflicts in the Hindu society and to bring about social change through service, began its silver jubilee celebrations on the Ambedkar Jayanthi and will end the same on Jan 22, 2006 at a grand function in Bangalore. During the celebrations, over 110 programmes will be held throughout the State covering 200 villages. For this, 200 samitis have been floated, he said. Twelve special district-level seminars will be held. However, the programme will have the basic objective of promoting social harmony and conservation of environment. In order to bring about increased awareness regarding the need of service, a mega Jana Samparka Abhiyan will be set in motion in Dec. The campaign will cover over 2,000 villages and pass the message to the people on how they can contribute towards social change. Further, the campaign will also raise funds for its service activities through donation coupons, Sagar informed. During the grand finale of the celebrations which is scheduled to be held in Bangalore, there will be a huge gathering of over 1,200 NGOs of the State, retired sevavritis, IT professions, lawyers, bank officers and other professionals who will be initiated into service activities. The pratishthana which runs various projects in the State also has a special programme for rag pickers and has two rehabilitation centres in Bangalore. However, it plans to swell this number to 100 in the coming years. Further, the pratishthana also has an ambitious plan to spread its work to 300 slums of the State, Sagar informed. Change through service: The pratishthana which has so far trained 3,300 people of which 2,825 are women and 500 men, deputes them in various places of the State where they render service to the society for a period of three years and later return to their families. Although the pratishthana basically operates only in the State, the sevavritis may also have to serve in special projects in Assam, Manipur, Gujarat and Arunachal Pradesh. While in service, an honorarium of Rs 1,000, a secure house and permission to visit home once a year is given. The sevavriti is care by local committees in their jurisdiction.