To commemorate the 96th year of the advent of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai launched a scholarship scheme, ‘BHARATH RASHTRA NIRMAN VIDYARTHI NIDHI’ on the auspicious morning of 23rd November. The objectives of this national scholarship scheme are:
1. To improve enrollment and quality of primary school education.
2. To encourage students to complete their school education up to Grade 12.
The scholarship was launched by Dr Krishna Gopal, Joint General Secretary of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh.
Prashanthi Balamandira Trust launched the Bharath Rashtra Nirman Vidyarthi Nidhi on November 23, 2021, in order to provide for economically disadvantaged children who have been denied the affordability to education. While there are several merit or means-based scholarship schemes for students at the higher education level, there is almost none at the primary foundational level of education.
This initiative was primarily instituted to arrest school dropouts at primary schools, and to help children from impoverished and disturbed households, who would otherwise be forced to join the labour force at a very early age or who would be exposed to exploitation from anti-social elements. While most of these children go to Government/Trust-run/aided-schools which are free of cost – many incidental expenses, which the families find challenging, are taken care through this unique initiative.
Partnership with Rashtriya Seva Bharati (RSB):
Bharath Rashtra Nirman Vidyarthi Nidhi is executed by the Prashanthi Balamandira Trust in partnership with Rashtriya Seva Bharati, which is a federation of social service organisations, with dedicated ground-level volunteers across the country. RSB volunteers take care of - student selection, monitoring progress and mentoring the most-needy children to enrol into the Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Gurukulam Group of Institutions from Grade Six onwards, while also serving as well-wishers to the family.
Over 3,500 scholarships have already been given out in the financial year, April 2022 to March 2023.
As part of the 96th Birthday celebrations of Baba, 15 healthcare professionals consisting of surgeons, nurses and paramedical staff who operated on 23 children for their cardiac defects at the Sri Sathya Sai Sarla Memorial Hospital in Muddenahalli, were felicitated for their dedication and commitment, by placing the child above everything else and worked around the clock to complete the surgeries within a week’s time. For the first time in the history of Chikkaballapur district, the Sri Sathya Sai Sarla Memorial Hospital, a multi-speciality hospital fully equipped with high-end facilities, hosted a team of surgeons to perform these paediatric cardiac surgeries.
Mr C Sreenivas, Chairman of the Sri Sathya Sai Health and Education Trust spoke his heart by saying, “Kabir said, God lives in our breath and hence is not to be searched anywhere else. Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is the very breath of humanity. Let us stay in the presence of love, mercy, human brotherhood, fatherhood, and Divinity – this is the purpose of Baba’s life and let it be our purpose too.”
Mr B N Narasimha Murthy, Chancellor of the Sri Sathya Sai University for Human Excellence said, “The message of sanātana dharma is the unity of all existence. sevā is love made visible. If sevā is love made visible, God is infinite love made invisible. However, Sri Sathya Sai Baba is infinite love made visible in the form of Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai. He is a grand spectacle of divine love. He is the living embodiment of Sri Sathya Sai Baba.”
Dr Krishna Gopal, Joint General Secretary of Rashtriya Svayam Sevak Sangh spoke with conviction when he said, “Love and Service have taken a form in the form of Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Ours is a land of spirituality. No child should be bereft of food, education, and health in this Country. Each one has to teach one, so that no child is left out. It is everyone’s responsibility to reach out to every human who is in need.”
Sadguru Sri Madhusudan Sai delivered the birthday discourse when he said, “Sai is the embodiment of love and service indeed! Baba exhorted us to realise ourselves by loving and serving. Selfless service purifies us and makes us capable to seeing divinity everywhere. Children are the most important facet of the society. To take care of them is our collective divine responsibility. Baba has worked all his life for children. This is what we are continuing to do. Now the glory of Sai will spread to every nook and corner of the world. It will reach the last child of the planet. This mission will go on galloping every day. It will only increase in its magnitude and intensity every passing year. The future will be glorious. The idea of ‘vasudhaiva kutumbakam’ will be realised by us. There is only one religion, the religion of love, there is only one caste, the caste of humanity. Baba will work through all of you and bring relief and succour to the world. Each one teach 1,000! Let each one of us embrace 1,000 children. Our journey does not end till we realise our divinity.”
To add to the ‘joy of giving’ that elevated the spirit of one and all on the November 23rd morning, Mr Sumeet Tappoo’s heart-rending songs for the Lord seemed like a direct conversation with the Lord, that sang its tunes to its heart’s content and touched the hearts of all the listeners too!
