Om Sri Sai Ram

SRI SATHYA SAI SEVA ORGANISATIONS, WEST BENGAL

Report of activities held in January, 2017

 

Night Soil cleaning at Joydev Mela:

The ‘Jaidev Mela’ (a three day fair) is held on the banks of river Ajay every year during Makar Sankranti, with a mystic and cultural extravaganza, witnessing a convergence of lakhs of devotees who come to take a holy dip in the river. Owing to the massive congregation, the humungous task of ensuring sanitation at the sandy banks of the river has been joyfully undertaken over the past few years by the sevadal of Burdwan and Birbhum Districts, where the task of cleaning human night soil is carried out to enable devotees to walk freely to the bank and facilitate a comfortable dip for all visitors.

This year also around 65 sevadal (including 15 ladies) set up camp on the banks of Ajay river for 4 days from 13th to 16th January, 2017. The work of removing human night soil from the bank would begin every day at 4.00 am and continue until 5.30 pm in the evening by the sevadals in three shifts. The sevadals would set out to the river bank at 3.30 am with all necessary equipment and implements singing bhajans in 6 groups. In addition to cleaning the river bank, the sevadal also ensured that the 700 temporary toilets set up by the ‘mela’ administration are kept clean for continuous use by the common public. Besides this, other waste and garbage were also cleaned to keep the bank and surrounding area uncluttered. After three rounds of work each day, all sevadal would gather in the camp for evening satsang which included Bhajans and operational discussions. The camp came to close on day 4 with offering of Mangal Aarti to Bhagavan.

Besides being a noteworthy step towards self-transformation and inspiration, this significant activity has been applauded by not only the authorities but also the general pilgrims thronging this annual event.

State Conference

The 42nd State Conference of State and District Level Office Bearers of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations, West Bengal was held at a Maliya, a small and picturesque hamlet in the district of Hooghly on 21st to 23rd, January, 2017. Participated in by around 200 delegates from all the 20 districts of West Bengal, the conference focussed on augmenting various activities under different wings of the organisation to ensure maximum involvement of all members and take Swami’s universal message of Love to one and all. The sessions spread over two and a half days included talks, presentations, group discussion and deliberations on various aspect of the functioning of each wing and initiatives of the organisation.

After the ceremonial Prashanthi flag hoisting the conference began with lighting of the lamp and chanting of prayers and hymns from scriptures of major religions. Thereafter, the deliberations started in right earnest with the inaugural speech by the State President, which set the tune for sessions to follow. In his short but inspiring speech, the State President gave a total overview of the accomplishments of the year on review, the conditions on the ground affecting or aiding the momentum and the way forward taking necessary lessons from the same. After keynote addresses by the Vice Presidents, the proceedings of the inaugural day concluded with the State President convening a special session with the State Coordinators and the District Presidents.

The second day’s session started with a presentation on the Veda movement. Following this was a three hour session in which the respective state coordinators viz – service, spiritual, education and youth engaged in insightful group discussions with their district coordinators to chalk out a route map for the successful implementation of the state’s core area initiatives for the year 2017. Following this were presentations on the activities of the State Trust, activities and initiatives on the Medical front and discussions on SSSVIP and Grama Seva. There were also brief presentations on Disaster Management, Vocational Training and Youth initiatives with special emphasis on Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Jyothi project.

Recommendations and resolutions emanating from the proceedings of the conference over the first two days were presented on the concluding day where the State President along with respective State Coordinators charted out the course for the year. The conference concluded with valedictory addresses by the Vice Presidents and Mangala Aarthi being offered to Bhagawan.

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