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Belur Math, Howrah - 711 202 West Bengal, India. An Appeal The Ramakrishna Mission Saradapitha is a branch centre of the Ramakrishna Mission, P.O. Belur Math, Howrah. It was established in the year 1941, in the closest proximity of Belur Math. The main object of this center is to spread education on the line best suited to our country in keeping with the ideas and ideals of the great Swami Vivekananda, with emphasis on vocational, technical and non-formal education to rural masses, men and women, including free residential courses for some educated but unemployed village youth, to promote self-employment and social service. It also provides general education upto the degree level as well as teacher' training courses. Thus the SARADAPITHA is engaged in the service of over four thousand students in the Belur Math campus irrespective of caste, creed and religion, of whom over two thousand belong to the under-privileged section of our society. It also renders service to the general public as well as to a few hundred families in the rural areas of Howrah, Hooghly and Burdwan districts, through its various units. The total number of beneficiaries in the villages comes to about four thousand boys, girls, men and women. A short description of the activities and services rendered by the different units of the Saradapitha is given hereunder: The Tattwamandira A religious and cultural centre started with the inception of the Saradapitha in 1941, where the monks working in the various other units of the Saradapitha come together and prepare themselves, through study, meditation and other devotional practices, for a life of renunciation and service, to actualize Swami Vivekananda's immortal motto - 'Atmano Mokshartham, Jagadhithaya Cha' meaning -- for the liberation of one's own self and for the welfare of the world. The Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, a living incarnate of the Devi Saraswati in Her times, resides here in the temple as a presiding Deity. Spiritual discourses on the scriptures and lives and teachings of the saints, singing of Bhajans, Ramanama Sankirtan etc. are conducted at regular intervals. Sri Sri Jagaddhatri Puja is performed in its prayer hall annually. Lectures on religion and culture are also periodically delivered by the monks at various places within and outside the state. Ramakrishna Darshan This hall contains a permanent pictorial exposition of Sri Ramakrishna-Vivekananda through photographs, drawings, paintings and clay models etc. with a view to introducing visitors to their lives and teachings and also to the Belur Math, the holy Tirtha of the modern age. The Preaching and Publication Department This section is now engaged in preaching the spiritual and moral ideals of Sri Ramakrishna-Vivekananda through publication of literature and production of audio-cassettes, photographs, pictures and incense sticks made exclusively of herbal ingredients. It also serves as a small training wing to impart training to some unemployed youths to help them towards self-employment. There is a sales section for the various items produced in this department as well as the literatures published by the Ramakrishna Mission in almost all the important languages of India and also in English, which helps propagate the cultural movement of Sri Ramakrishna-Vivekananda for the "good of the many and for the happiness of the many." TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL INSTITUTES The Shilpavidyalaya In line with Swami Vivekananda's plan of action for the regeneration of India, the first Industrial School of the Mission, one of the oldest in the country, was started in the year 1921, which was later incorporated into the Ramakrishna Mission Saradapitha in the name of Shilpavidyalaya. The technical/vocational training imparted in this institute is a training with a difference. The objective is Swami Vivekananda's concept of making a full-fledged man - "Heart to feel, brain to conceive and hand to work." Students who have passed the class X examination are trained here in six different trades viz. Draughtsman (Civil), Draughtsman (Mechanical), Electronic Mechanic, Electrician, Carpentry, Hand-composing, Printing and Binding -- the first five courses being affiliated to the National Council for Vocational Training, Government of India and the last one being run by the school on its own. A new trade viz. Plumbing has been started from May, 1999 to cater mainly to unemployed young men of this locality who have passed at least class VIII examination. The Shilpayatana This is an Industrial Training Institute for students after passing the class X examination. The Shilpayatana conducts two-year courses under DGET in three trades, viz. Electrician, Turner, Fitter and one-year Welder course under affiliation to the National Council for Vocational Training, Government of India, New Delhi. It also conducts two-year H.S. Vocational course affiliated to the H.S. Council of West Bengal. The Shilpamandira & Community Polytechnic This was started in 1945 as an Industrial School. It has developed into a Government sponsored Polytechnic, offering three-years Diploma courses in Civil, Electical and Mechanical Engineering recognized by the State Council for Engineering and Technical Education, with a Community Polytechnic attached to it, the latter serving to transfer the benefits of technology to the under-educated youth of rural areas by training over two thousand men and women in a large number of trades, like Welding, Wiring, Carpentry, T.V. repairing, Refrigerator & Air-Conditioner repairing etc., thus helping them to get self-employed. There is a highly sophisticated Computer Centre, which offers courses for students from lower and middle income groups at a very cheap rate, exposing them to the latest state-of-the-art in Computer Science and Applications. The Janasikshamandira This is a centre for rural development started in 1952 and based on village children and youth organizations and lays emphasis on education and other developmental works, mainly through four of its units viz. Gram Vikas Vibhag, Audio-Visual Unit, Free Library and Kishore Vibhag. Its fifteen non-formal education centres render services to several hundreds of children belonging to scheduled Caste and other backward communities and ten non-formal education centres for child laborers at the rural areas of Howrah, Hooghly and Burdwan districts. It provides scope of passing the Secondary Education equivalent to Madhyamik to the poor and deprived young in rural areas by Distant Education through State Open School. It imparts training in various vocations to hundreds of poor in Tailoring, Machine Wool Knitting, Zari Embroidery, T.V. Repairing, Pumpset Repairing, Making Foam Leather articles, Carpentry and Book Binding etc. Its Small Savings Scheme helps poor rural people to develop the habit of savings for strengthening economic bases. It is also emgaged in preventing pollution in household kitchen by contributing improved chullas. It's mobile Audio-Visual unit screens films to spread mass education, its free Library with a bicycle lending service to female readers at their homes in and around Belur caters to several thousand readers every year. Its Kishore Vibhag (Children's Section) organizes free coaching for school going poor students of industrial slums and training for indoor and outdoor games for children. The Samaj Sevak Sikshanamandira Started in the year 1986, this is a residential institution for training youths from West Bengal and other States free of charge in integrated rural development work and social service. Besides, scientific training, both theoretical and practical, moral and spiritual values are also inculcated in the would-be social workers. The course includes value orientation, ideology of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda social welfare, Administrative methods of working with people, management of integrated rural development and techniques for running voluntary organizations. Courses on practical knowledge of appropriate technology suited to sound needs are also conducted specially on Agriculture, Pisciculture, Bee keeping, Poultry, Diary, Cottage and Small Scale Industries, Low Cost Housing, Sanitation, Drinking Water, First Aid and Primary Health. Ex-trainees form nucleus organizations at district level on their own to conduct developmental activities. The Sikshanamandira This is a residential B.Ed. college imparting training to about two hundred trainees, with specific emphasis on moral and higher values in education. It was started in 1958 and is affiliated to the University of Calcutta. The college has maintained a bright record of performance. Co-curricular activities comprise exhibitions, seminars, cultural functions etc. along with daily prayers. Regular spiritual and cultural classes are also conducted for trainees. The Vidyamandira A residential three-year Degree College with a Higher Secondary section offering honors courses in as many as nine subjects viz. Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Economics, English, History, Political Science, Philosophy and Sanskrit, it also runs two degree courses on two vocational subjects viz. Computer Application and Industrial Chemistry. Spiritual Heritage of India is taught as a compulsory subject to acquaint the students with the glorious heritage of our country. The activities and studies of the students are supervised by the monastic members. It was started in the year 1941 and affiliated to the University of Calcutta. The academic results of the college have uniformly been good, having records of first position secured in the merit list of the University Examination by its students even in consecutive years. AN APPEAL The activities of the Saradapitha depends upon financial assistance
through donations both in cash and kind from generous corporate bodies,
Trusts and kind hearted people. It is in this context that we make a fervent
appeal to all of them to kindly contribute generously to meet some of our
urgent and immediate needs of a capital nature as follows:
Total [Rs. 23,79,000/-]
Besides, owing to lack of Governmental support worth mentioning, an amount of Rs. 1.50 lakhs of recurring expenditure annually is in deficit in the running of the Shilpavidyalaya for which public assistance is earnestly solicited on a regular basis. Further, for improvement of the standard of teaching for the students of the Shilpavidyala, it has become essential to introduce computer training at this institution for which we are approaching our friends as the institution does not have resources of its own to purchase 10 computers, the particulars of which are given below: 486 DX/66 (minimum) or Pentium-based PCDonations of second-hand computers are welcome. For donations from US, ASTI may be contacted for further details. Cheques or Drafts may be kindly sent in favor of Ramakrishna Mission Saradapitha. Donations are exempt from the ambit of Income Tax in India under section 80-G of the Income Tax Act, 1961. All correspondence may kindly be made at the address given below: Swami Ramananda
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