Arogya Mitra Scheme by Arogya Bharati
Bhaskar Kulkarni
Those who are aware of the demography of north-eastern states must know that it is still difficult for the nationalist forces to work in some of the areas of the region. Despite that, the nationalist forces are active in the entire region, maybe in different forms. The experiment of Arogya Mitra scheme started under the banner of Arogya Bharati some years back has proved to be a solid force and source of patriotism and nationalism in the region. More than 5,000 such Arogya Mitras are active in the remote and inaccessible areas of north-eastern states, where it is impossible to think for government agencies to reach. Even the Sangh swayamsevaks have failed to reach there so far.
Arogya Mitras not only ensure good health for the local people, but also promote nationalist feelings among the people. There are some areas where there was no Sangh shakha, but due to the efforts of Arogya Mitras, there too the Sangh shakhas began and now a good band of dedicated workers is active in the nation-building activities. By and large whatever the nationalist atmosphere one can see in Assam region today, can be credited largely to these Arogya Mitras.
When we talk about modern development in medical field, we normally mean lakhs of doctors for crores of patients. The ultimate objective of all the national and international medico organisations too is the same. But the prime question is whether we can ensure health for all by ensuring good number of doctors for a certain percentage of people. The modern health system can keep some organs of the body fit to some extent, but it cannot keep us mentally and intellectually sound. We also pray for param vaibhav in our daily shakha. Can we achieve this objective by closing our eyes? Have we thought about the condition of our agriculture, health, etc. when we achieve this param vaibhav? The Sangh is working since the year 1925 and the experience of these years is that if we achieve param vaibhav in the field of health, we have to ensure that every person is fit in all respects.
Our scriptures say—dharmarthkammokshanam arogya moolam. It means the foundation of dharma, artha, kaam and moksha is arogya (good health). People eat many things throughout the day, but majority of the people do not know what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat and how to eat. This is the reason majority of the people keep unwell. Even those who know these basics of health do not follow them in practical life. That is why they repeatedly fall sick. It was in order to bring forth this thing, the Arogya Bharati was formed in the year 2004. It organised the first national workshop ‘Niramaya-2006’ in Nagpur. Noted yoga guru Baba Ramdev and 1,500 other scholars from different medical fields attended the workshop. The ultimate objective of the Arogya Bharati is—healthy individual, healthy family, healthy society, healthy village and healthy nation.
In order to keep every individual fit, the Arogya Bharati started the Arogya Mitra project, which has shown miraculous results in north-eastern states. Apart from keeping the people physically fit, the Arogya Mitras have also strengthened the patriotic feelings among the people. Normally, it requires a trained doctor to prescribe medicines to a sick. But to educate people about healthy life style it does not require a medical degree holder. Doctor’s advice is not necessary as to how to perform Suryanamaskars or other yoga exercises. A yoga practitioner can do it perfectly.
A doctor can only keep an individual physically fit. But our objective is to keep the individual fit from all aspects. In order to keep India fit, we shall have to keep every individual living in rural areas fit. If the villages are fit, the entire nation will remain fit. This is the reason that the Arogya Bharati is focussing on villages. We want to train at least two Arogya Mitras is every village to ensure good health for all. For it, training camps have been started to be organised all over the country. We normally teach 20 kinds of things related to aahar and vihar (eating and behaving) in these training camps.
We need to understand one more fact. Arogya Mitras are not for just propagating healthy life style. They also work for national cause. We can reach anywhere even in the remotest and vulnerable areas with their help. Propagating healthy lifestyle can be a good topic for all the upkramasheel shakhas today. Not only the swayamsevaks visiting the shakha, but also the general public should be taught about the healthy lifestyle. The activities conducted for physical and intellectual growth of swayamsevaks should also include good eating and behaving habits.
Healthy lifestyle is needed for both urban and rural, posh colonies or Sewa Basti people. Therefore, we have decided to conduct training programmes on large scale. Healthy lifestyle is equally beneficial for all whether they are the Congress followers or the BJP, Leftist, Hindus, Muslims or the followers of any other sect, way of life or the ideology. Arogya Mitra can be a medium to bring the people of different ideologies into one fold. Nobody will oppose the work of promoting healthy lifestyle. We have witnessed in north-eastern region that many good and dedicated workers have been developed through the Arogya Mitra scheme. There are more than 50 workers in Assam alone who have come through the Arogya Mitra scheme. They move in the entire region in the form of Arogya Mitras, without any difficult or security threat. By and large a good network can be created through such workers. They work free of cost for the development of their villages.
(The writer is Akhil Bharatiya Prashikshan Pramukh of Arogya Bharati).
Neither ‘Maiti’ nor ‘Mayang’, we all are Indians
Many healthy trends have been witnessed in north-east region through the Arogya Mitra scheme. They are proving to be a key player in changing the mentality of the people. There is an incident of Manipur. The local people there call themselves ‘Maiti’. Those who have settled there from other parts of the country are called ‘Mayang’. Sometime back a campaign was launched in Manipur to force the Mayangs to leave the State. Since this word was used there as an abuse, it created a gulf between the Manipuri and non-Manipuri people. This mentality was dangerous for the national feeling. Therefore, it disturbed all the nationalists. The Sangh has also done very good work in Manipur. There are thousands of trained worker all over the State. The swayamsevaks and the Arogya Mitras educates the people about the disastrous consequences of using Mayang words. Ultimately the people stopped using these words and now the opposition to non-Manipuri people has reduced to a great extent. It is a big achievement on the part of the swayamsevaks and the Arogya Mitras. This also shows how positive change can be brought about in the society.
al s�v=m�����:.55pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:1.15pt; margin-left:0cm;text-align:justify;line-height:normal;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none'>Changing face of Indian society (Organiser, 7.4.2013); Shri MV Kamath in his weekly column titled ‘Changing face of Indian society’ in Organiser writes with frankness and deep concern. He says, according to The Hindustan Times dated 8.3.2013, “a woman in Delhi is molested or raped every two hours” and asks what pushes people to commit such crimes? We keep asking who, where, how, what action did the police take, etc. Do we ask why such crimes totally abnoxious to social beings take place? Are our social and human values falling rapidly? And if yes, why? Social behaviour is not for ever constant. It changes over a time. If it is too rapid or even too slow it creates confusion and even chaos. How can changes be implemented maintaining stability? Too rapid changes create confusion and chaos. Maybe, likewise too slow. Are we giving undue publicity to sexual crimes? Does this create curiosity and mindless behaviour? Can society be impressed that male aggressiveness is not heroic but mean and contemptible. A strictly legal approach to the problem diverts attention away from the human, social and societal aspects which are at the root. Social changes are necessary and inevitable over a period in thought, word and deed. But that must be regulated. Crime and punishment are not the only issues. Other issues have to be examined which are to be tackled by great thinkers, well experienced social workers and practical philosophers. The international shame that this problem is causing calls for quick solution. Police action should meanwhile continue efficiently though not aggressively.
CBD RAO, 39, 15th Cross Road, Malleshwaram, Bengaluru: 560 003
It is as good as devil preaching Bible Making annotation on liquor by the activists of the Congress Party and preaching Bible by the devil are both one and the same. Congress people should read the Indian history prior to independence i.e the time when the movement was led by Gandhiji. During that period Congress workers used to undertake picketing before the liquor shops, pressing hard for their closer and demanding total prohibition of liquor. But see the power of time. Soon after independence the same people who were agitating for total prohibition of liquor became liquor barons. Right from the time of independence the Congress Party has been mainly ruling the country. Liquor is being flown like water. When the whole nation is facing acute shortage of drinking water there is overflow of liquor and beer even in famine effected areas. The best example can be of Maharashtra State which has been badly effected by severe drought but there is no shortage of liquor in the areas.
Sridhar V Kulkarni, Talak Chowk, Kalyan (West), Maharashtra :421 301
BJP loss, but not Congress gain (Organiser,19.5.2013); Manmohan Singh in his maiden budget speech in 1991 had quoted Victor Hugo in the context of economic liberalisation which was then introduced. The quote was, “No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come.” With slight change, I would like to say that, no power on earth can stop the exit of Sonia Manmohan government whose time of demise has come, not even the Congress victory in Karnataka.
Ajay K Mittal, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh
Nature: The Divine Mother (Organiser, 14.4.2014); This refers to the article ‘Nature:The Divine Mother’ by Dr Bajranj Lal Gupta in Organiser, page no 14) Our earth is just like our house, we should understand how and where to dispose our waste and keep our sorrounding environment clean. Perhaps the world has badly mistaken the concept of Hindu religion in protecting and maintaining the environment.We have systematically separated and classified various elements of the nature like Wind(Vayu Devata),Fire(Agni Devata),Earth(Dharti Mata),Cobra(Nag Devata), etc. and have designated them as Gods.When the Hindu religion have made them gods, the concept behind them are bound to be respected, guarded and not supposed to be destroyed.Similarly,the Hindu religion have linked some trees with gods, such as Pipal tree—Brahma, Banyan tree—Vishnu and Neem—Maheswara. Since we worship these trees, obviously we are not supposed to destroy them. Apart from that a group of trees which are classified as Kalpavraksha, such as Mango, Coconut, etc.are also forbidden to be destroyed. Again on similair lines,the Hindu religion has designated certain birds and animals as gods. For example Eagle as Garuda and Cow as Kamadhenu. The world should understand the reasons behind designating the elements of the earth,birds and animals as gods by Hindu religion.The simple reason is that all the mentioned above play a major role in keeping our earth eco-system alive. Factors like deforestation, improper disposal of different types of wastes, excessive automobile emission,etc. has deteriorated the environment. Better late than never,the world should undertand the essence and concepts of Hindu religion, and stop attacking it.
SETURAM ASPARI, email: rangeshk@rediffmail.com
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