State: In the Chorus of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
Andhra Pradesh
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's (RSS) affiliated wing Sewa Bharati, Secunderabad coordinated with Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan campaign in Gandhi Hospital, Secunderabad on October 18. Gandhi Hospital is one of the oldest hospitals and believed to be the one of the largest in Asia.
During the drive NS Murthy, incharge of Sewa Bharati said, “We had expected around 500 persons but it swelled to 1,270. The entire hospital premises was cleaned up by the volunteers.”
Swamiji from Ramkrishana Mutt and Swamy Satyavratananda of Sivananda Ashram graced the programme with their presence and blessed the youth. S Harikrishna, Additional Commissioner, GHMC was the chief guest of the programme. Ashok Kumar, Superintendent of the Gandhi Hospital and Srilatha, Principal of Gandhi Medical College payed their heartiest regards to Sewa Bharati for the initiative and commended the voluntary work undertaken by youth with dedication. About 12 organisations and educational institutions participated in the abhiyan.
—N Nagaraja Rao from Secunderabad
Karnataka
Volunteers to clean Mutt in Mantralayam
When N Subba Narasimha, Bengaluru city President of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), casually requested his party men to spare two days to clean the Sri Raghavendra Swamy Mutt, many agreed to volunteer the cause, as the mutt in Mantralayam is the Samadhi of Guru Sarva Bhouma Raghavendra Swamy. Devotees believe that Swamy is still present inside the mutt and blesses all those who come to see him.Around 400 volunteers from Bengaluru and 60 volunteers from Bellary reached Mantralayam early morning on October 18. After a brief rest, they all congregated outside the mutt and formed different teams, each consisting of 50 to 70 people, to focus on different areas like Tunga Bhadra river bed, mutt premises, guest houses, bus stands, main roads, shopping complexes and the villages.The two days of ‘Swachh-Mantralaya’ created a momentum in the mutt and visiting devotees were inspired to take part in the abhiyan. It can be recalled that both Mantralayam Village and Raghavendra Swamy Mutt were damaged due to heavy floods on October 1and 2 in the year 2009. Mutt was rebuilt and all the facilities in and around the mutt were restored with the help of donors.
—R Guruprasad from Bengaluru
