POST
DISASTER RECONSTRUCTION WORK IN GUJARAT BY RAMAKRISHNA
MISSION
[Based
on the extempore speech delivered in the Second International
Conference on Disaster Management held at Coventry
University, U.K. on 22nd & 23rd April, 2004]
INTRODUCTION
I
have been asked to introduce myself. I would like
to say only this much that I am a monk of Ramakrishna
Mission - an organisation started by Swami Vivekananda
in 1897 in order to give practical shape to the message
of his Master Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa of serving
the people looking upon them as veritable manifestations
of the Divine irrespective of caste, creed, colour,
religion or nationality. We, the monks of Ramakrishna
Order are wedded to the ideal of striving for manifesting
our divinity while serving the Divine in others (Attmano
Mokshartham, Jagat Hitaya cha) for which we have renounced
the world, our family, property everything. The officer
who interviewed me while granting visa for U.K. was
finding it difficult to believe when I said, "I
do not own any property, do not have any income, do
not have any bank account and do not have family."
Then I had to explain to him that as per our monastic
rules, we can not keep any bank account, we do not
get any remuneration for the service we are rendering,
(of course our basic needs are taken care of by the
organisation) we are celibates and have renounced
our family, so the whole world becomes our family.
RAMAKRISHNA
MISSION
At
present there are about 150 branch centres of Ramakrishna
Math & Mission spread all over the world - 110
in India and 40 outside India. The Headquarters is
at Belur Math(Near Kolkata) in India. Various humanitarian
activities include serving approx 8 million poor patients
every year through 14 indoor hospitals. 101 Out-patients
dispensaries and 40 mobile dispensaries, imparting
quality education to approx 1,70,000 students through
600 educational institutions, serving thousands of
underprivileged poor people through numerous rural
and tribal development projects, bringing peace of
mind to millions of people by spreading Ramakrishna-Vivekananda-Vedanta
literature, helping millions of people in their spiritual
development through dissemination of cultural and
spiritual ideas, bringing peace and harmony in the
world by propagating the message of 'Harmony of Religions'
as preached by Shri Ramakrishna who practised various
religions like Hinduism, Christianity, Islam etc.
by turn and then declared, "As many faiths, so
many paths".
Whenever
there is any disaster, the monks of Ramakrishna Mission,
immediately rush there to provide relief to the people,
to mitigate their suffering. The activities are carried
out mostly by collection of donation from the public.
The accounts are kept meticulously, Because of the
above factors Ramakrishna Mission has earned great
credibility and respectability inside India as well
as outside India. The purpose for which Swami Vivekananda
started Ramakrishna Mission, the spirit behind its
multifarious service activities, the greatness of
the universal heart of Swami Vivekananda - all these
are explicit in a memorable letter written by Swami
Vivekananda to Miss Mary Hale of U.S.A. The letter
was written on 9th July 1897, i.e. five years before
he passed away at the age of 39 years on 4th July
1902. I will just narrate some inspiring extracts
of the letter: "Dear Mary… only one idea
was burning in my brain ---------------- to start
the machine for elevating the Indian masses - --and
that I have succeeded in doing to a certain extent.
It would have made your heart glad to see how my boys
are working in the midst of famine and disease and
misery - nursing by the mat-bed of the cholera stricken
Pariah and feeding the starving Chandala - and the
Lord sends help to me and to them all. ….. I
had to talk a lot about myself because I owed that
to you I feel my task is done - at most three or four
years more of life are left. I have lost all wish
for my salvation. I never wanted earthly enjoyments.
I must see my machine in strong working order and
then knowing sure that I have put in a lever for the
good of humanity, in India at least, which no power
can drive back, I will sleep without caring what will
be next; and may I be born again and again and suffer
thousands of miseries so that I may worship the only
God that exists, the only God I believe in, the sum
total of all souls, and above all my God the wicked,
my God the miserable, my God the poor of all races
of all species, is the special object of my worship."
THE
BEGINNING OF POST DISASTER RELEIF WORK BY RAMAKRISHNA
MISSION.
You
might be surprised to know that Ramakrishna Mission
has been conducting post disaster relief and rehabilitation
work since more than a hundred years. The first organised
relief work of Ramakrishna Mission started on 15th
May, 1897. The beginning is quite interesting and
inspiring. When Swami Akhandananda, a brother-disciple
of Swami Vivekananda was passing through a village
called Daudpur in Murshidabad district of West Bengal,
he saw a Muslim girl crying over her broken water
jar. When he asked her as to why she was crying, she
said, "Father, there is Famine, and we have nothing
to eat. The only pitcher we had to fetch water is
now broken. My mother will beat me, so I am crying."
The heart of Swami Akhandananda melted and he immediately
bought another pitcher and some puffed rice for the
girl from a shop and she went off happily. As the
shopkeeper handed the change to Swami Akhandananda,
about twelve famished children surrounded him and
implored him to give food. So he bought them some
puffed rice with the twelve remaining paisa. Now he
became a penniless monk. He proceeded further and
reached Mahula but on the way everywhere he saw poor
people undergoing intense suffering due to severe
famine. He was overwhelmed, tears rolled down his
cheeks while praying for the welfare of the suffering
people. He could not move further for going on pilgrimage
nor could he return to the Math in Kolkata. He remained
there and started serving the people by begging money
and wrote to his brother-disciples, " …………….
it is not possible for me to run away from here in
a cowardly manner. I may die, but I must do something
before that." Swami Vivekananda immediately wrote
to him an encouraging letter, "Bravo, my hero!
Victory to the Guru! Go on with the work! Leave the
supply of funds to me." He then sent him one
hundred and fifty rupees for starting the work. Gradually
more funds started pouring in. Mr. E. V. Levinge,
the District Magistrate of Murshidabad was so much
impressed by the spirit of service of Swami Akhandananda
and his associates that he became the Patron of this
first relief service of the Ramakrishna Mission. Swami
Vivekananda was so overjoyed to learn about the success
of this first relief work that he wrote in an inspiring
letter to Swami Akhandananda from Almora on 15th June
1897 - "As I received the detailed news from
you, my joy increases, with work of this kind, you
can buy the world ……… bravo! A thousand
embraces and blessings to you. Work, work, work even
unto death .. If, by giving food to a hungry mouth,
you happen to lose name and fame, you are so fortunate,
so very fortunate! … This is the real worship,
the worship of the Lord in men and women of flesh
and blood …….. This is just the beginning.
With such a beginning, can we not go on spreading
all over India and the world?" This is how the
first post-disaster relief work of Ramakrishna Mission
started. At the back of the success of hundreds of
relief and rehabilitation projects undertaken so far
by Ramakrishna Mission lies the great spirit of dedication
and missionary zeal of the monks and volunteers derived
from the inspiring letters and living examples of
Swami Vivekananda and his brother-disciples.
LATEST
POST DISASTER RELEIF WORK IN GUJARAT
India
witnessed one of the worst natural calamities of recent
years when the devastating earthquake of 6.9 magnitude
on the Richter Scale rocked Gujarat on 26th January
2001. It was a great catastrophe. Out of 25 districts
of Gujarat, 21 districts having 7633 villages were
affected by the calamity. According to the Government
records 19,904 people died, 1,66,000 people got injured,
15.90 million people were affected by earthquake.
8 68 000 houses got damaged, 3,55,000 houses collapsed
and 992 primary school buildings out of 1359 school
buildings collapsed. resulting in an overall loss
of 200,000 million rupees (U.S. $ 4444.45 million)
True
to its tradition, the Ramakrishna Mission sprang to
action immediately and started primary relief work
from 26 January 2001 itself, the day of the calamity.
Cooked food, food grain, drinking water, tarpaulins,
tents, blankets, clothes etc were distributed to tens
of thousands of quake-affected people of 281 villages,
3400 families were provided with temporary shelters.
Thus primary relief of nearly 30 million rupees was
provided. This was followed by large scale rehabilitation
projects involving construction of 81 Government school
buildings, 6 housing colonies (total 390 houses),
190 houses under "Build your own Houses Scheme"
etc. costing approx 165 million rupees ( U.S. $ 3.67
million). The printed brochures already given to you
contain all the details, moreover I am going to show
you a V.C.D. of 10 minutes on this subject along with
running commentary, so, for want of time, I will just
narrate some salient features of our rehabilitation
project.
SALIENT
FEATURES OF POST-DISASTER RECONTRUCTION WORK IN GUJARAT
(2001-2003)
1.
Utmost care has been taken to ensure that all the
buildings are earthquake resistant. Soil samples were
tested in the laboratory before the preparation of
structural design and experts' opinions were sought
before finalising the design.
2. Holistic approach was adopted while planning the
projects. All the school buildings have been fully
equipped with furniture, library, playground equipment,
supply of water, toilet block, compound wall etc.
In the colonies also, arrangements for water, sanitation,
electricity etc. have been made and community halls,
libraries, playground equipment etc. have been provided.
The beneficiaries have been not only given better
housing facilities and better living condition but
also taught the art of living. They are all living
together happily forgetting the differences of caste,
creed, colour and religion. Wherever possible, follow-up
work has been undertaken and attempts are being made
for the total rehabilitation of beneficiaries living
in these colonies - economic, social, cultural and
spiritual.
3. Pre-fabrication technology was adopted for construction
of some of the school buildings, particularly those
located in remote areas. This enabled us to complete
the buildings speedily. The first two newly built
school buildings were inaugurated and handed over
to the school authorities on 30 June 2001 i.e. within
three months of starting of the rehabilitation project
and the whole project was completed within two years.
4. Community participation was given due importance;
series of meetings were held and involvement of villagers
and beneficiaries was sought right from the planning
stage. This enabled us to complete the project quickly
and smoothly.
5. Flexible approach was adopted while planning. Some
beneficiaries did not want to give up their parental
site and to go to live in the colony. Such beneficiaries
were given financial help as well as technical help
to enable them to construct their houses on their
own plot of land as per their own design under 'Build
Your Own House' scheme.
6. Training was provided to the villagers to enable
them to build earthquake resistant houses. Drawings
and designs were provided free of cost, even technical
supervision was also provided, hints on post-disaster
mitigation were also given.
7. Fortunately we did not opt for fifty percent contribution
of the Government for constructions work. This enabled
us to complete the project more quickly. Many N.G.O.s
who opted for fifty percent contribution from the
Government had to face numerous problems because of
bureaucratic approach of the Government officials
and complicated Government procedures. Their projects
got delayed. Many N.G.O.s even backed out because
of frustration. Moreover, this enabled us to have
freedom of selecting the genuine beneficiaries without
prejudice of local political leaders or Government
officials.
8. There was good response from the donors. We received
donations not only from India but also from U.S.A.,
Canada, U.K. and many other countries, because of
the excellent credibility acquired by the Ramakrishna
Mission due to yeomen services provided over a period
of more than hundred years.
9. Many experts, architects, engineers and volunteers
offered their dedicated services. This was one of
the important factors responsible for reduction in
cost of construction and enhancement of quality.
CHALLAENGES
FACED
1.
Obtaining Land for construction of colonies or school
buildings was a problem in some places, due to non-coperation
of the community, village politics or Government procedures.
This problem was sorted out by persuading the Govt.
officials to give alternative sites and by conducting
series of meetings with village leaders. In one village
the land granted by the Government for construction
of a colony was found out to be unsuitable for constructing
earthquake resistant houses after obtaining soil testing
reports, so the plan for construction of a colony
was abandoned and instead the houses were constructed
on the individual plots of land of the beneficiaries.
2. In some places excellent co-operation was obtained
from the Government but in some places the Government
help was not forthcoming, lot of efforts were required
to obtain the required help.
3. In some of the villages the beneficiaries of higher
caste refused to stay with people of lower caste in
the same colony initially. In one colony three different
types of communities had to be accommodated. Through
a series of meetings they were educated about higher
values of life and importance of living in harmony.
To the surprise of villagers, now they are all living
in the colonies happily with mutual co-operation.
LESSONS
LEARNED
1.
There should be better co-ordination between the Government
and N.G.O.s
2. Independently financed N.G.O.s should be officially
recognized in the Government - led construction programmes;
because their ability to react to the needs of the
population far exceeds the speed at which Government
agencies react.
3. The Government should adopt more flexible approach
while working with reputed N.G.O.s and should simplify
procedures to avoid bottlenecks and delays in disaster
management programmes.
4. Rehabilitation of disaster affected people through
housing facilities should be followed by economic
social, cultural and spiritual rehabilitation wherever
possible.
5. Training should be imparted to the people about
disaster mitigation; simultaneously they should be
educated about higher values of life, e.g. mutual
co-operation, unity of mankind, harmony of religions
etc.
CONCLUSION
I
am thankful to the organisers for giving me an opportunity
of sharing our experience related to recent post-disaster
reconstruction work in Gujarat. I am also thankful
to the participants for showing their keen interest
in my presentation. I take this opportunity of congratulating
the organisers for organising this conference so well
and giving us the opportunity of learning from each
other's experience. I would humbly suggest that the
scope of the next conference should be widened and
more number of donor agencies, Govt. officials and
representatives of N.G.O.s should be motivated to
join the conference in order to have more pragmatic
and result oriented approach.
