Most people know the Rashtra Sevika Samiti as another organisation fighting for the cause of women. But it is different to other women outfits. It has started various service projects across the country to extend concrete support to the needy women. The Samiti runs Samskar Kendras, literacy centres, health awareness and counseling centres, homeopathy and Ayurveda health centres, cutting tailoring centres and hostels.
According to Smt. Chitra Joshi, senior activist of the Samiti, the Samiti runs 20 hostels exclusively for women in different parts of the country. Four of them are for the girls of the north-east. Vanvasi Kanya Chhatravas of Nagpur run by Devi Ahalyabai Smarak Samiti is for Vanvasi girls of the north-east. A total of 44 girls from Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura are there in this hostel. Vandaniya Tai Apate Kanya Chhatravas, Nanded, is for the girls of Meghalaya. The third hostel in Bangalore is for the girls of Karnataka and the fourth hostel, Rani Ma Gaudinlu Kanya Chhatravas, is in Haflang.
Tejasvini Kanya Chhatravas, Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh), is for the girls of leprosy-affected people. Yashasvini Kanya Chhatravas has the girls from Naxal-affected areas of Bastar and Raipur. Bharatiya Shri Vidyaniketan, Jabalpur, runs a hostel (Rukmani Kanya Chhatravas) at Aluva of Kerala for Vanvasi girls and a hostel is run at Nagarkovil in Tamil Nadu for the tsunami-affected girls. The girls from Naxal-affected areas of Jagatyal are studying at the Nivedita Kanya Chhatravas in Andhra Pradesh. The Rudramma trust has the college going girls. Tejaswini Kanya Chhatravas at Yavatmal is for the girls of nomadic Vanavasi communities. There is Maitrai hostel in Chandrapur where the Ujjawala Mandal Kalyan and Bharatiya Stri Jivan Vikas Parishad, Mahim, have made arrangements for providing nursing training to those Vanvasi girls. The Saraswati Sindhu Kanya Chhatravas in Jalandhar (Punjab) is for the girls from Leh-Laddakh. Most of the girls here are Buddhists. Mata Gujari Chhatravas is in Patiala. There is a hostel in Jammu for the terrorism-affected girls. It is completely managed by women.
These hostels not only have arrangements for the study but also efforts are made for their all-round development. They are taught yogasans, painting, music, dance, etc. They are also encouraged to appear in different exams. Since they are all away from their families, they all are properly taken care of by the activists. Saraswate Kaka of Konkan helps the girls of Haflang hostel in their preparation for their exams. They are also provided many kinds of vocational training. Training of Panchopchar pooja is imparted at the hostel in Karnataka.
The project run at the Agaria basti in Jamnagar (Gujarat) is also unique. This basti is situated near the coast of the sea. The people working in the mines of salt work over night as it is difficult to work in salt during daytime. Since they work the whole night they sleep in the day and they are not able to pay attention to their children. The Sevika Samiti workers run Samskar Kendras for those children.
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