Raipur, 05 October 2023
Chief Minister Shri Bhupesh Baghel has paid tribute to Swami Atmanand on his birth anniversary on 6th October. The Chief Minister has said that Swami Atmanand embodied the spirit of Swami Ramakrishna Paramhansa on the land of Chhattisgarh and awakened the spirit of human service and education. Swami Vivekananda’s thoughts also had a deep impact on Atmanand ji, due to which he spent his entire life in the service of the destitute. He spent the money collected to establish monasteries and ashrams to serve the famine victims and for relief work.
The Chief Minister said that Swami Atmanand ji has made a huge contribution to Chhattisgarh as a social reformer and educationist. His work in the field of human service is exemplary and inspiring. He described service to suffering humanity as the greatest religion. The state government is moving forward taking inspiration from his ideals and ideas. Swami Atmanand ji established a high level education center in Narayanpur Ashram for the upliftment of the forest dwellers. On similar lines, Swami Atmanand English and Hindi Medium Schools are being started by the state government in the district headquarters and development blocks. 753 Swami Atmanand excellent English and Hindi medium schools are running in remote areas including rural areas in the state. In this series, Swami Atmanand English Medium College is also being started to provide quality higher education to the students. Taking this initiative further, the state government has Atmanand Coaching Scheme has been started, so that the children of poor and remote areas can get all the opportunities to move forward with quality education. Through this scheme, free coaching will be given to class 12th students in government schools for competitive examinations of engineering and medical through 146 development block headquarters of the state and 150 coaching centers including four cities – Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur and Korba.
Shri Baghel said that Swami Atmanand ji established the Abujhmad project to give respect to the tribals and to provide them fair prices for their produce. Efforts were made to improve the condition and direction of the forest dwellers by starting a Forest Dwellers Service Center in Narayanpur. Following his footsteps, the state government has also set a record at the national level by purchasing forest produce from forest dwellers at reasonable prices. He started providing nutritious food to pregnant mothers during times of famine so that children do not become malnourished. The state government has launched the Chief Minister Suposhan Abhiyan with a pledge to make Chhattisgarh free from malnutrition by arranging hot meals for women and children. Shri Baghel said that the thoughts and values of Swami Atmanand will always inspire us to serve and help the needy people.
