The 109th Annual General Meeting of the Ramakrishna Mission was held at Belur Math on Sunday, December 16. A report presented in the meeting showed that some of the major award received by the Ramakrishna Mission together with its twin organization Ramakrishna Math and their branches in the year 2017-18.
Divyayan Krishi Vigyan Kendra of Ranchi Morabadi Ashrama was awarded Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Rashtriya Krishi Vigyan Protsahan Puraskar at the national level by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. Also Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission were listed in the World Book of Records, London, as a spiritual movement working for the harmony of religions.
In commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Abhedananda, four national seminars on Indian Culture and Philosophy, and a number of other programmes were held at different centres of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. The 150th birth anniversary of Sister Nivedita was celebrated by the Headquarters and a number of branch centres in India and abroad. Nearly 55,000 people attended 115 seminars and conventions held in this connection, and about 50,000 students took part in the cultural competitions. A few new books on Sister Nivedita were also published in different languages.
New branch centres of Ramakrishna Mission were started in Goa, Lumdung, Arunachal Pradesh, Jhargram, West Bengal, New Town, Kolkata, Davanagere, Karnataka and Dibrugarh, Assam.
In the rural development field Ranchi Morabadi centre developed watersheds covering 6969 hectares of land and started two projects to conserve a variety of scented rice crop. The centre also undertook a Seed Village Programme in which farmers were trained in the production of paddy seeds. Under this programme, farmers from 25 villages produced 1,025 quintals of paddy seeds.
During the year, the Mission undertook welfare work in a number of ways, including providing scholarships to poor students and pecuniary help to old, sick and destitute people. Expenditure incurred was Rs. 17 crore. Medical service was rendered to more than 72.74 lakh people through 10 hospitals, 80 dispensaries, 40 mobile medical units and 928 medical camps run by the Mission. Expenditure incurred was Rs. 227 crore. Nearly 2.31 lakh students studied in Mission’s educational institutions ranging from kindergarten to university level and also in non-formal education centres, night schools, coaching classes, etc. A sum of Rs. 324 crore was spent on the educational work.
A number of rural and tribal development projects were undertaken by the Mission with a total expenditure of Rs. 71 crore, benefiting about 42.86 lakh people. We take this opportunity to express our heartfelt thanks to our members and friends for their kind cooperation and help in carrying forward the service programmes of Ramakrishna Mission and Ramakrishna Math.