escue work in Andamans FOC There are nine relief camps in Port Blair, out of which eight are being run by RSS,

R VHP, Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram and other Hindu organisations. Only one relief camp is run by the Catholic missionaries. The remaining victims are being accommodated in eight camps run by the RSS. A team of doctors from Hedgewar Hospital, Aurangabad (Maharashtra) with 5.1 tonnes of life-saving medicines reached Port Blair. The team has started visiting several islands under Sewa Bharati, Port Blair. So far thousands of victims have being provided food, medicines, drinking water, clothes, milk, green vegetables, etc. In a joint venture to speed up relief and rehabilitation work, the Sangh Swayam-sevaks along with like-minded organisations have founded the Dweep Peedit Sahayata Samiti which has its central office at Vivekananda Kendra Vidya-laya, Lamba Line in Port Blair. In order to assess and gear up the relief works, Sunilpada Goswami (Kshetra Pracharak, Eastern zone), Venugopal Reddy (BJP leader) and Swami Asimanand (Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram) have reached Port Blair.

What they say about RSS?

• The CPI Tamil Nadu secretary, R. Nallakannu has said in Chennai on January 1, that RSS Swayamsevaks “were in the forefront in helping people and had reached many affected areas where the government officials were not to be found at all.”

• Former Thikkkanangodu town Panchayat president, Tennis and also other Christian leaders including Francis Rajendran, James Edison, and Resley have praised the RSS and Seva Bharathi for their services.

• The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Kanyakumari, Shri Muthuraj said, “Previously, I was having a wrong opinion about the RSS. They do not discriminate on the basis of religion. I do not know how to praise them.”

• In Pallam area of Kanya-kumari district, the Panchayat president, Arokia-das, praised the RSS workers for helping them without discriminating on the basis of religion. He also said that relief material should not be kept in churches since he feared that it would not reach the victims properly.

They are also involved in relief

Mata Amritanandamayi Mutt

Hindu Council, UK

Brent Hindu Council

Chinmaya Mission

Sewa International

India Development and Relief Fund

Vivekananda Kendra

Balaji temple in Birmingham

Laxminarayan temple in Belfast

Swaminarayan temple

Ramkrishna Mission