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Ramakrishna Mission Bangladesh

Formation	1916
Purpose	Educational, Philanthropic, Religious Studies, Spirituality
Headquarters	Belur Math, West Bengal
Region served	Worldwide
Website	[1]

Ramakrishna Mission was founded in 1897 by world famous philanthropist and spiritual leader Swami Vivekananda the great disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, a God-man of the 19th century. The purpose of the Ramakrishna Mission is to look after the welfare of the of the society for example education, medical, social service and relief work. Ramakrishna Mission has been set up in 1899 by the devotees and affiliated as a combined center at Belur Math, West Bengal, India in 1916. The pioneer center of the Ramakrishna Mission in Bangladesh is in 27, Ramakrishna Mission Road, Dhaka 1203. The Ramakrishna Mission are run by monks who are most likely to be the head of the twin organization Ramakrishna Math. The monks are elected and nominated by other monks. The work of Ramakrishna Math is not too distant from Ramakrishna Mission, but instead it focuses on promoting religious and spiritual principles.

Activities

The principal workers of the mission are the monks. The mission's activities cover the following areas,

• Education
• Health care
• Cultural activities
• Rural uplift
• Tribal welfare
• Youth movement etc.

Contribution of Ramakrishna Mission

Education: The Ramakrishna Mission's goal is to help the underprivileged who cannot afford education. Holding the ideal - 'Man-making and character-building' - of Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna Mission School was established as a Junior High School in 1914 with a view to making the underprivileged children as educated citizen irrespective of cast, creed & religion at minimum expenses. In its journey of about hundred years many are now at the top of the society being educated from this institution. It is to be mentioned that from 1899 Ramakrishna Mission, Dhaka run a free Middle English School only with three classes and 113 students for a few years. The present institution was run as a Junior High School for a long time. After a lot of efforts, in 2008 the school got affiliation from the government as a full-fledged High School and from this school the first batch of SSC examinees appeared at the Secondary School Certificate Exam in 2010. Ramakrishna Mission High School is being conducted in accordance with the curriculum of the Dhaka Education Board. Apart from the regular classes, sports, physical exercise, dramas, musical performances and all the national days are observed properly here. At present about 300 students from class one to class ten are studying in this school. Among them nearly 90 percent is from the economically backward families. So, many students are given the facility of studying at partial cost and many are given the facility of full-free studentship. For this reason the school never saw the light of economic solvency. As a result the school is not standardized. In the meantime the school is made one storied building in 1960s and two storied in 1980s. However as a govt affiliated institution, it is not at all sufficient. Due to this structural incompleteness it is not possible to bring any qualitative change in the education system. Therefore, the glory of the school is going to be lost. In order to make this historical school a modern one, it is essential to take some urgent steps including structural improvement. This is possible only when the donor organizations and the well-wishers come forward to extend their helping hands. We wholeheartedly expect that with the help of everybody very soon the school will be able to bring back its lost glory. The students also receive different benefits, and they are:

Student’s home: Taking the idea of Swamiji Ramakrishna Mission, Dhaka runs a students' home named 'Vivekananda Vidyarthi Bhavan' in the decay of 1950 to accommodate few college students with an opportunity of studying and leading a life in a quiet and tranquil environment, fostering up their mind and soul who are facing problem in the face of acute scarcity of accommodation in a city like Dhaka. It has been possible now for us to provide seats to 80 students here at the minimum expenses. A few students here have been provided with full free-studentship and concession in various forms every year.

Financial Aid: Most of the students who study under the Ramakrishna Mission are poverty stricken young men. Who need financial aid in order to study. For this reason the students, with the help of the ministry of Social Welfare, Govt. of the Peoples' Republic of Bangladesh and under the project of 'Support Services Program For the Vulnerable Group (SSPVG), the students are given stipends/ Under this project each student is given Tk. 1,000, so on an average all over the country among 8000 poor students total TK. 8,000,000.00 has been distributed. Ramakrishna mission Dhaka alone has distributed TK. 1,200,000.00 in Dhaka and its nearby areas. Remaining Taka has been distributed through the other centers under the direct supervision of Ramakrishna Mission, Dhaka.

Computer Training Center: Ramakrishna Mission Computer Training Center started its journey on September, 2006 with the assistance of the High Commission of India in Bangladesh with a view to helping the underprivileged young people to earn their livelihood by providing them with modern practical education with minimum expenses. The Center earned popularity within a very short time and as a result it got the affiliation from Bangladesh Technical Education Board in 2007.

Free Library and Reading Room: Ramakrishna Mission, Dhaka, has a free library with a commodious reading room equipped with individual desk enabling the readers to study quietly and peacefully. Here books are available for common readers as well as students studying in Schools, Colleges, Universities and also for research scholars. It has a collection of over 15000 books and 50 periodicals. Every year about 35,000 readers use the library. The library facilities are yet to be extended, renovated and modernized for which Tk. 30 lac is estimated to be needed now. For want of funds the work could not progress satisfactorily.

Medical Services: Ramakrishna Mission, Dhaka runs a Medical Service Center (Allopathy) for the poorer section of the Society. It was founded by Swami Premananda, a sannyasi disciple of Sri Ramakrishna in 1916 in the very day of the laying foundation of Ramakrishna Mission, Dhaka by Swami Brahmananda, another sannyasi disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. During the liberation of Bangladesh its activities were limited for providing milk. But within a few years time it had started four mobile units in Tangail, Manikganj and Naryanganj district. With the mobile units its service had been extended to the urban and rural poor. But because of shortage of the funds the mobile units had to stop. Though the medical service could not run its outdoor service according to its need yet during 1980-90 it improved its internal service significantly. Starting with only general medicine service the medical center has now been offering facilities for treatment in more than 10 departments like Dental, ENT, Eye, Skin, Gayne & Obstetrics, Cardiology, Medicine etc. with a few test departments like X-Ray, ECG, Pathology with computerized blood test etc. A unit of Ultrasonography has been also added to extend the facility of complicated treatment to the poor and people of low income on nominal fees. Every year it has been extending services to thousands of patients who are examined by qualified doctors and a good number of poor patients are provided with free medicines. Hundreds of patients gather at the medical center for treatment everyday. There have been two such centers, one in Dhaka (main) and the other in Narayanganj. Patients enjoy all such treatments at very low expenses.

Refugee Relief: The birth of Bangladesh in 1971 had brought many hardships and casualties due to the war with Pakistan.The relief and rehabilitation that the Ramakrishna Mission provided for the people of Bangladesh at this time was one of the largest such efforts in the Mission’s history. In March 1971, near the border areas of West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura were swamped by large masses of refugees. The Mission began serving the refugees through its center at Katihar on 13 April 1971. The border camp at Radhikapur across Dinajpur provided for 24,000 refugees. In times of chaos, disease and death this camp served as a model of order and hygiene. However, it had soon to be shifted to the more interior site of Dalimgaon to avoid shelling by Pakistani troops. Within a few weeks the Mission was running over a dozen relief camps across the above-mentioned border states. At their peak these camps had around 220,000 people under their care. The refugee at these camps were given food and shelter. A maintenance of proper hygiene was kept and the sick were attended to. But even after all this the major problems these refugees faced were psychological. As in, the brutality of the war had mentally affected the refugees. For that reason even after being taken under the safety of the Mission, their minds were reminded of their dear ones in which they were taken away from. Swami Lokeswaranandaji, who had been actively involved in this relief work continuously tackled the mental trauma. Thus slowly the refugees were able to gain control over there own lives.

Recontruction of Bangladesh: Near the end of 1971, the refugees were slowly returning home to Bangladesh. But the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Bangladesh were a matter at hand. The government of Bangladesh formally asked for the Mission's help. As so, many of the of the Mission that were shut down due to the war were revived. Regular distribution of milk to tens of thousands of people, provision of clothing to several lakh needy persons, and conducting of mobile medical services were taken up as primary relief measures. Aid was also provided for rehabilitation and by March 1973 the Mission had helped with the construction of nearly 1,400 houses and sunk 222 tube wells for provision of safe drinking water. The government and the people of Bangladesh were especially appreciative of the Mission’s efforts to reach aid to the most needy, irrespective of religious affiliations or socio-political distinctions. These relief and reconstruction efforts continued for several years and involved expenditure worth several crore taka.

Relief and Rehabilitation in Times of Flood and Cyclone: Bangladesh has witnessed much change since the turbulent early days of independence. But its vulnerability to floods, cyclones and other natural disasters has meant that relief and rehabilitation remain a recurrent need. The Ramakrishna Mission has consistently tried to do its best to address these needs. Besides the many small-scale relief undertakings, it has provided relief and rehabilitation on a large scale following the devastating floods of 1987, 1988, 1995 and 1998, the massive cyclone and tidal upsurge of 1991, and the cyclones and tornadoes of 1989, 1996 and 1997.

The Dinajpur center catered to the food and clothing needs of nearly 30,000 people across 24 towns and 22 villages during the floods of 1987 and the Dhaka and Mymensingh centers attended to over 7,000 people besides providing medical aid to over 4,000 patients. The following year too there were massive floods and, besides providing food supplies, the Mission distributed over 1.5 lakh items of clothing to flood victims in Dhaka, Barisal, Dinajpur, Narayanganj, Faridpur, Mymensingh, Bagerhat, Baliati and Habiganj districts. The center at Mymensingh also undertook distribution of 36,000 sachets of oral-re hydration salts among 9,000 families to combat diarrhoeal diseases.

On 26 April 1989 a powerful tornado wreaked much havoc in Dhaka and Manikganj districts. Besides providing primary relief with food, clothing and medical aid, Ramakrishna Mission, Dhaka, undertook the construction of 424 houses in 4 villages, all equipped with sanitary latrines and fuel-conserving ovens. The Bagerhat center also constructed 156 houses and renovated two primary schools in Khulna and Bagerhat districts. With the assistance received from the local community and administration, the Mission also received a monetary aid of Rs 46.9 lakh from the people of India through its High Commissioner in Bangladesh.

The super-cyclone and massive tidal upsurge of 29 April 1991 probably ranks as the worst natural calamity in recent times in Bangladesh. Several major islands were totally submerged in the tidal upsurge and several lakh people lost their lives in south-eastern Bangladesh. Even as the Mission provided primary relief at Banskhali, Sitakunda, Anwara, Maheshkhali and Cox's Bazar of Greater Chittagong district (the expenditure on this count over the next few months was nearly 1 crore taka), the near-total destruction of houses called for immediate measures to provide housing. After a careful survey of the victims, a plan for constructing 978 houses was taken up. The beneficiaries were selected taking into consideration the age and income of the victims, land ownership, and the possibility of soil erosion so that the most needy were served. The government of India offered to supply 9,000 galvanized-iron sheets; Help the Aged, London, offered to sponsor the housing of 300 families; and the Vedanta Society of Northern California provided $53,000 in aid of the project. Groups of carpenters and masons were mobilized to fabricate reinforced-cement-concrete pillars and bamboo walls. Most of the houses were in place within eight months and the work was widely appreciated by the recipients as well as the donor agencies.

Branches of Ramakrishna Mission in Bangladesh

1. Dinajpur
2. Sylhet
3. Habiganj
4. Baliati, Manikganj
5. Dhaka
6. Narayanganj
7. Faridpur
8. Jessore
9. Barisal

Conclusion

Ramakrishna Mission has done its best to help Bangladesh as much as possible. Its purpose is to serve the people anyway it can through the teachings of Swami Vivekananda the great disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. The Ramakrishna Mission has been set up in many districts of Bangladesh. These branches of the Ramakrishna Mission look after the society. The Mission provides medical services, where it treats the ill, provides schools for children, and provides homes for some of their students. All these are done at low prices and sometimes for no costs at all. The Mission looks after the poverty stricken people of Bangladesh and helps them to gain strength on their own two feet.