Five years ago the Government of India requested Ramakrishna Mission to actively participate in the Swachh Bharath Abhiyan. The call was to conduct cleanliness campaigns every week for five years from 2 Oct 2014. The goal was to achieve a clean India as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary in 2019. Ramakrishna Math and Mission, Mangaluru answered this call in a manner that transformed the campaign into a revolution! The story of this adventure is presented here in the words of Swami Ekagamyananda who led the movement.
Towards the end of September 2014, our headquarters at Belur Math instructed us to take up the Swachh Bharath Abhiyan and inspire our devotees and the people of Mangaluru to participate in the cleanliness drive. Initially, I was not enthusiastic about getting involved in this Abhiyan. I saw it as a Central Government project and also thought that given the huge fan following of the Prime Minister our service would not be required for the success of the campaign. Furthermore, I felt that our time and energy could be better utilized in more essential fields of service.
Ramakrishna Mission has always worked in areas that are usually neglected by others. We step in only when a real need is perceived and then tirelessly work for its fulfillment. Here we can refer to two such projects successfully undertaken by the Mangaluru ashrama. One is the Balakashram, a hostel run in the Math premises for meritorious high school boys hailing from poor families in and around the Malnad region of Karnataka. Malnad which is situated on the slopes of the Western Ghats is a tough terrain of hills, rivers, streams, and waterfalls and the interior villages do not have high schools within walking distance. Most of the students, even meritorious ones, drop out of school after primary education. Selected students from this category are admitted to our Balakashram.
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