An organisation started by former students of Ramakrishna Mission Residential College (Autonomous), Narendrapur, which works for the underprivileged, held a function on Sunday where the beneficiaries from different parts of Bengal interacted and performed.
Society for Envisioning Vivekananda in Awareness and Action (Sevaa), an initiative of the 1976-1979 batch of the college, dedicates itself to work for the underprivileged in the areas of health, education, livelihood and sustainability.
On Sunday, at the annual function was Astam Hembram, a third-year student of medicine. Sevaa funded his studies so he could continue his education in Kolkata.
His father sells phuchka in Suri, Birbhum.
The 21-year-old is a student of College of Medicine and Sagore Dutta Hospital.
“Money has always been a problem in my home and the help I receive from Sevaa helps me to study medicine,” said Hembram.
A group of tribal men and women from the Ayodhya hills in Purulia — about 250km from Kolkata — whose children go to a school started by Sevaa, came together on Sunday.
They live in a village called Saparambera, on top of the hills.
“Their children are first-generation learners and the parents want them to be educated, something that they did not understand before but now they do,” said Sajal Das, executive committee member of Sevaa.
Most of the villagers earn a living from farming.
Sevaa has helped train the villagers in cultivation and in making plates and cups from salpata as part of its livelihood project.
During the Covid pandemic, Sevaa started with online education and soon after, they started a physical school in a community hall in Saparambera.
Sevaa also runs education projects in Ukhra in West Burdwan.
“Influenced by the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, Sarada Maa and Swami Vivekananda, we started this organisation. But while it was started by former students we have been joined by friends, well-wishers and family members,” said Das.
The organisation also supports students in higher education. They reach out to the students through headmasters of schools or outreach organisation.
“We are supporting a few every year but we intend to scale this up,” said Das.
On Sunday, the first annual function of Sevaa was organised at the Maa Sarada Sabhakokhksha of Lokshikhsa Parishad, Ramakrishna Mission, Narendrapur.
It was attended by Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj of Calcutta High Court and Swami Ekachittananda, principal, Ramakrishna Mission Residential College(Autonomous), Narendrapur.
“We felicitated some of the villagers and our members spent time with them. They understood that they are being treated with respect and dignity,” said Gautam Banerjee, executive committee member.
“It is to build a trust in them that we are not doing a one-off activity but want to sustain this work and improve their standard of living,” said Banerjee.