It is celebrated almost all over Bharat with Tulsi Puja or Tulsi Vivah being a major event on this day. The famous Akashadeep festival in Varanasi Ghats also comes to an end on the day.
Dev Diwali marks the end of the fortnight of Diwali celebrations and a major event on this day is the lighting of Diyas (lamps) in the honour of Shiva.
2. BHARATIYA-ORIGIN SCIENTIST, TWO OTHERS WIN NOBEL CHEMISTRY PRIZE: Bharatiya-origin scientist Venkatraman Ramakrishnan , a senior scientist at the MRC Laborartory of Molecular Biology at Cambridge wins Nobel chemistry prize for the year 2009.
Born in 1952 in Chidambaram -Tamil Nadu, Ramakrishnan – first Bharatiya to win Nobel in Chemistry - shares the prize with Thomas E Steitz (US) and Ada E Yonath (Israel) for their "studies of the structure and function of the ribosome".
Ramakrishnan earned his B.Sc. in Physics (1971) from Baroda University and his Ph.D. in Physics (1976) from Ohio University.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said their work has been fundamental to the scientific understanding of life and has helped researchers develop antibiotic cures for various diseases.
3. YATRA TURNS INTO A MASS MOVEMENT: The Vishwa Mangal Gou Gram Yatra has turned into a mass movement in its initial days itself. The subyatras being taken out are awakening the people at the grass root level. The groups of workers are educating the people about the need of cow protection and preservation.
On the first day of the yatra itself, i.e. October 1, the people waited for hours to welcome the yatra under scorching sun bright sunlight.
The yatra is normally moving late due to unprecedented reception being accorded by people who stop the yatra in mid way and do not allow to move till they welcome the saints, perform goupuja and express their commitment for cow protection. People from all sections of the society including children, old and women and especially youth are participating with full vigour and fervour.
The yatra is attracting massive crowds in all the states like Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu.
Addressing a massive gathering in Rohtak on October 1 leading saint of Haridwar Swami Akhileshwaranand termed it an irony that there is a strict ban on cow slaughter in Muslim dominated state of Jammu & Kashmir and the people are fighting for it in the Hindu dominated states. At Amritsar, Swami Parmanand said the self-reliant villages are necessary for healthy development of the country.
At Parade Ground of Jammu on October 7 Gokarna Peethadhishwar Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Raghaveshwar Bharati Swamiji described the cow as foundation of the healthy and happy life. The yatra received tremendous response from the people of Jammu.
In Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh Swami Satyamitranand of Bharat Mata temple; Swami Akhileshanand; Vijay Brahmachariji; Sadhwi Varuna Yati; Vice Chancellor Swami Vivekanand Saraswati; Shardapeethadhiswar Shankaracharya Rajrajeswaranandji, famous Kathavachak Atul Krishna Bhardwaj and film actor Suresh Oberoi added spirituality and colour to the Yatra.
Massive crowds were seen at Garhmukteswar (more than ten thousand) on the banks of the Ganges and a rural hamlet Khatima (more than three thousand) besides mind boggling night functions at Roorkee, Moradabad and Bareilly on 11th, 12th and 13th days of the Yatra respectively. Participation of ladies with children and those too the rural ones, is indicative of the fact that the theme of cow rearing and bovine protection is percolating to the very roots of the rural folk.
4. STUDENTS, ACTIVISTS CONDEMN BARBARIC ACT OF MAOISTS: Staging a candle light vigil at the high security India Gate area on October 9, members of the civil society under the aegis of Civil Society Forum protested against the barbarism of Maoists, who beheaded Francis Induvar, an inspector in Jharkhand Police on the outskirts of Ranchi. The candlelight vigil was held to protest against the soft attitude of the Government towards the Maoist violence let loose across several States of the country.
Over 200 people, including students from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University and Jamia Milia Islamia alongwith eminent citizens like KPS Gill, Joginder Singh, Vijay Kapoor, Tarun Vijay and others gathered to express their solidarity with the victim's family, defying the prohibitory orders. KPS Gill, former DGP of Punjab, said, "There has to be a political consensus. Security forces need to be strengthened and proper economic steps should be taken. "
5. YOGA GURU BABA RAMDEV ENTHRALLS 1200 PEOPLE AT TAMPA, FLORIDA by his magical and inspiring discourse on Yoga and his plans to bring transformation in Bharat in the next 5 year.
Gujarat Gaurav Parivaar, Florida organized a public meeting on October 7, at India Cultural Center attended by over 1200 persons including eminent doctors, engineers and professionals. Swami Ramdevji in his two hour powerful and inspiring discourse that was combined with the demonstration of some key yogic postures and pranayama exercises, kept the audience spell-bound, attentive and mesmerized.
Dr. Bhishma Agnihotri, Former Global Ambassador of Bharat was the chief guest and spoke at length about the great spiritual and Yogic revolution brought by Baba Ramdev.Others present included Shri Chandrakant Patel and Shri BrahmRatan Agarwal.
6. MASSIVE RELIEF OPERATION BY SEWA BHARATI, VHP AND ABVP: With the devastating floods wreaking havoc in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa, the Sewa Bharati, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad workers plunged into action immediately and started relief operation with all the available resources.
Food preparation and collection centers were started at Hyderabad, Vijaywada, Hindupur etc.The swayamsevaks distributed lakhs of food and water packets in three districts of Andhra Pradesh reaching the interior rural areas of Karnool and Mahaboob Nagar. Volunteers from Adoni went to Mantralaya and cleaned the Mantralaya Temple and cleared the dead bodies of cows of Goshala and other animals. Many of the dead were piligrims to Mantralaya Temple. The swayamsevaks removed these bodies and handed over to the police.
Software professionals associated with IT milans in Hyderabad also joined the efforts and went to flood affected areas distributing relief material. Similar relief operations were undertaken in Karnataka in Bagalkot, Belgaum and Gadag districts.
In second phase, these organizations are undertaking survey of the affected areas in view of preparing the rehabilitation plans. Sewa International, Bharat plans to help the flood victims to bring back life to normal and appeals the benevolent to help them.
For further information contact: sewainternationaldelhi@gmail.com
7. TWO PRITHVI MISSILES TESTED BACK-TO-BACK: In quick succession, Bharat tested two advanced versions of the nuclear-capable Prithvi-II ballistic missile, with a strike range of 350-km, from the Chandipur interim test range off the Orissa coast on October 12.
“Aimed at two different targets 350 km away from the launch point, the missiles launched within minutes of each other met all mission objectives,’’ said a defence ministry official.
An important aspect about the twin tests was that they were conducted by the tri-Service Strategic Forces Command (SFC), created in January 2003 to manage the country’s nuclear arsenal.
8. IMF BACKS BHARAT TO LEAD GLOBAL RECOVERY: Asian neighbours Bharat and China will be the engines of global economic revival with 2009 growth rates of 5.4 per cent and 8.5 per cent respectively, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief economist Olivier Blanchard said on Oct 1.
The rebound in emerging and other developing economies is being led by a resurgence in Asia, most notably in China and Bharat, fuelled by policy stimuli (tax and interest rate concessions given to industry and individuals to spur consumption and investment), IMF said in the latest World Economic Outlook (WEO), released in Istanbul. Only China, Indonesia, and Bharat escaped a severe recession, it noted.
9. STATEMENT BY BHAYYAJI JOSHI, SARKARYAVAH, RSS: In a statement from Rajgir , Bihar on October 11, RSS Sarkaryavaha Bhayyaji Joshi cautioned against the renewed attempts to bring caste into the ambit of racism in the aftermath of the Durban Review Conference held in Geneva in April 2009. He recalled similar attempts made by certain western powers and the NGOs sponsored by them at the time of the World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) organized by the UN at Durban in South Africa in August-September 2001.
The Government of Bharat ( in 2001 ) took a rational and well-reasoned view that equating caste with race is grossly incorrect and would defeat the very purpose of obliterating racism in the world for which the conference was convened. Many eminent sociologists and scholars too have opined that the attempts to equate caste with race are “politically mischievous and scientifically nonsensical”. Caste is an internal matter of our country and we have addressed problems entailing it to the fullest through various constitutional safeguards like the Civil Rights Act (1954) and the SC&ST Act (1978) etc.
He urged the Government of Bharat to be alert to these designs and cautioned that all efforts to internationalize caste are designs to weaken our national solidarity and destroy our social fabric. They should be opposed by all right-thinking citizens on all fora.
10. AT 90, MANNA DEY GETS FILMDOM'S TOP PRIZE: Ninety-year-old playback legend Manna Dey - who belted out evergreen songs like Ae mere pyaare watan and Zindagi kaisi hai paheli - is being honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke award, the highest honour in Bharatiya cinema.
Born as Prabodh Chandra Dey on May 1, the singer was a name to reckon with in the Hindi film industry from the 1950s to the 1970s. He has recorded more than 3,500 songs over the course of his career. He also sang for the Bengali film industry, sometimes teaming up with Hemant Kumar.
Manna Dey's autobiography, 'Memories come alive', carries a quote by the matchless Mohammad Rafi. The latter is supposed to have once told journalists, "You listen to my songs. I listen to Manna Dey's songs only".
11. HSS BAYAREA VIJAYADASHAMI UTSAV 2009: HSS bay Area celebrated Vijaya Dashami with great fervor and zeal at the Sunnyvale Hindu Temple on September 27th. Over 500 people from all ten chapters of HSS throughout Bay Area participated in the event with great vigor. The program commenced with Dhwaja aarohan followed by the traditional Ayudha Pooja performed by Sunnyvale temple Pandit ji .
A Surya Namaskar and Niyuddha presentation by children, exemplified the positive influence of Balagokulams. While the teenagers demonstrated danda, ladies had their yogchaps. Enthralling was Vyayam Yog and Sanchalan synchronized with Ghosh. The program was graced by Raj Bhanot, Treasurer of the Temple Committee and Saumitra Gokhale, pracharak of HSS for the America zone. The program concluded with a small talk by Saumitra ji who spoke about the significance of Vijaya Dashami and importance of Dharma in our life.
12. BHARATIYA -LED GROUP FINDS WAY TO MEASURE NEUTRON STARS: After Chandrayaan-1's discovery of water molecules on the Moon comes another astronomy breakthrough for Bharat. An international group led by Sudip Bhattacharyya, a 36-year-old space scientist at Mumbai's Tata Institute of Fundamental research, has discovered a way to measure the size of neutron stars.
Sudeep and his colleagues — Coleman Miller of Maryland University and Galloway Monash of Australia modelled how the temperature of the bursts changed as they faded and found it varied in relation to the radius of the star.
13. A GUJARAT EXPERIMENT-RAINWATER HARVESTING: The western area of Gujarat traditionally known as Saurashtra and Kutch used to have scanty rainfall leading to frequent droughts. Due to lack of water for agriculture and even for drinking there was huge migration of young population to urban areas. The evident disinterest in agriculture was observed. People used to have a tough life in village. The water scarcity was so much that street fights were common. The cattle population also started decreasing and migrating towards south Gujarat. The ecological system was much disturbed. The water level was depleted beyond imagination. The sea water penetrated upto 50-80 kms towards land making the agriculture land saline. Due to this the whole area got barren. The economy and development also took its course on downfall. This was compounded by frequent cyclones and earthquakes. The overall situation was really gloomy.
Socio political initiatives
With the coming of BJP in Gujarat an era of change came. The concentrated work of watershed programme was going on in one solitary village named Raj Samadhiyala. Observing the results, I took eleven villages of my constituency where we started watershed programme movement with the help of karyakartas, NGOs and village people. The Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLAD) came to my rescue to finance the project. The beneficiary people were asked to volunteer for labour work and the material was supplied from either through MPLAD or from donations from the society.
This activity turned up in a social movement popularly known as “Check dam abhiyan” in Gujarat. Check dam is water harvesting structure created in river bed, more suitable as per topography of Saurashtra.
Almost all methods of rain water harvesting were used as per local suitability such as well-recharging, farm ponds, check dams creating new ponds or deepening them. The concept of Bori bandhs were made more popular by Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
Continuous two droughts like situations made the government pro-active and it ultimately came up with public bhagidari scheme, “Sardar Patel Sahbhagi Jal Sanchaya Yojana” popularly known as 40:60 check dam scheme. The scheme provided 60 per cent government share and 40 per cent by farmers or beneficiaries, which came as self labour, contribution or donations. The scheme was properly approved and monitored by government machinery. This scheme came out as best model with good results. The entrepreneureship, enthusiasm, the devotion of people and positive government attitude made this scheme the best public welfare measure scheme. This was the most successful movement of the decade for every one.
Mass movement
Along with farmers and government, people from all walks of life, joined in propagating this abhiyan. The religious leaders, sadhus, sants mahatmas, NGOs, social and political workers, public representatives from panchayat raj, MLAs, MPs, ministers, industrialists, associations, government officials and even NRIs came forward to organise the ‘Jal Yatra’ to spread the message of water harvesting and water conservation. The ponds and check dams were named as ‘Jal-Mandirs’, where prayers and artis were performed for Jal Devta. The message was conveyed by leaders and social activities like Rajendra Singh from Alvar. Print and electronic media also played a great role in spreading this abhiyan. Through the seminars, gram sabhas, kisan sammelans, lok dairas (popular gathering of traditional entertainment) religious meets, in short, all types of methods were adopted to spread the message of water conservation and to make the people actively involved. The writer of this article participated and visited more than two thousand villages and such gatherings and that is why he is popularly known as “check dam sansad”. The enthusiasm and moral of the society was too high to describe in words. It can only be experienced and not expressed.
Ghar ka pani ghar me
A number of slogan were adopted such as Ghar ka pani ghar me, Gaon ka pani gaon me and Khet ka pani khet me, etc. In each village 10 to 100 check dams were constructed on all spring rivers waste lands or low lying areas where water can be stored. From kachcha bandh, bori bandh to pakka check dam, were constructed, wells were recharged and deepening of village ponds and old medium or minor irrigation dams were also undertaken. In short, all sorts of measures as per local topography were undertaken utilising wisdom, local traditions and skill along with modern methods. The aim was to share each drop of rain water keeping in mind the principle of “save the water where it drops”. Due to typical geographical topography of Saurashtra, almost 80 per cent rain water was merging in sea before this movement was made. Now almost 80 per cent of rain water is harvested.
People’s involvement
Let me quote the example of a village where after my inspiring speech for construction of check dam, the old aged people (called as bhabha in Gujarati) who heard me, took an oath and initiated constructing check dam. Youth joined afterwards. The structure was completed. I was called for inauguration and when I came to know the story, I named that check dam as “Bhabha check dam” I salute to such innumerable social workers, activists and volunteers who helped us to achieve the mission.
Impact of check dams
The visible and self satisfactory change was the rising of under ground water level up to 8 meters. Repeated percolation after each phase of rainfall during monsoon raised the ground water level table, which in turn prevented sea water from penetrating in inner land and also prevented chemical pollution.
Crop production
The alarming change was seen in crop production. Due to irregular seasonal rainfall, the monsoon crops which used to remain devoid of water at a particular time were provided water by irrigation from nearby check dams or wells, the crop production did not suffer as earlier. Again, farmers could take “Ravi” crop also by irrigating the farms. In some areas, even third crop was also possible in form of vegetables, fruits or flowers, etc.
Today, because of heavy recession in industries and business, many unemployed youth are coming back to villages and again starting their livelihood through agriculture as now there is no shortage of water.
Impact on development
Once the vicious cycle of poverty was broken and economy started rising, the socio-cultural development took its own course. The sincere efforts of government and whole hearted public participation started showing the results. On one side massive drive for rural infrastructure was going on, contributive nature of donors, NGOs and religious institutions helped in fulfilling the government’s limitations and constraints.
To summarise, 24 hours electricity, drinking water facility, pakka roads, community halls, panchayat rooms, school rooms as per requirement, gaushalas, tree plantations and smriti vans , etc. are now common features all over the State.
(By Dr Ballabhbhai Kathiria , former Minister of State for HRD, Health, Heavy Indusry, Government of India. For full article see Organiser, October 18, 2009)
14. A TRIBUTE TO PYARELAL KHANDELWAL: Veteran BJP leader and Rajya Sabha Member Pyarelal Khandelwal passed away at All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi on October 6 following a cardiac arrest. He was 84.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh visited the BJP headquarters to pay tribute to Khandelwalji while former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, LK Advani, former Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and Sarsanghachalak Shri Mohan Bhagwat condoled Khandelwalji’s death.
Born in 1929 at Charmandali village of Sehore district in Madhya Pradesh, Khandelwalji became a Sangh Pracharak in 1948 and worked extensively in building and strengthening the party in Madhya Pradesh.
15. FROM BURKINA FASO TO DJIBOUTI, BHARATIYAS ARE EVERYWHERE: This may well be the ultimate ode to the globetrotting Bharatiya who, for centuries, has been criss-crossing the world in search of opportunity and adventure — Bharatiya citizens are today permanent residents of all but three countries in the world.
The ministry of overseas Bharatiya affairs has registered the presence of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in 180 of 183 countries of the world, their numbers may varying from just 2 in Lebanon to almost a million in the USA. It is only in North Korea, Pakistan and Bhutan that not a single NRI is to be found.
The largest number of NRIs are in Saudi Arabia (17 lakh) followed by the UAE (14 lakh) and the USA (9 lakh) but they can also be found in Slovenia (10), Montserrat (10), Iceland (21), Bosnia and Herzegovina (30) and Burkina Faso (150).
Experts also point out that, if People of Indian Origin (PIOs) are included, then both Pakistan and Bhutan would also find it difficult to shake off the Bharatiya links to their populations.
16. DOOR-TO-DOOR CAMPIGN BY CUPERTINO SHAKA FOR FLOOD RELIEF ACTIVITIES: As part of the fundraising efforts for the millions in flood hit Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, a group of 8 people (6 karyakartas, 1 kishor and 1 yuva) visited two apartment complexes in Cupertino -- Sage Apartments and Shadow Oaks Apartments.
At each residence, they introduced themselves as volunteers from Sewa International, handed out the flood-relief flyers and explained the ground reality of the situation and contribution options. The response was quite positive. In most cases, the residents seemed to prefer going online for payment.
The fundraising effort was a good opportunity to bring positive visibility to Sewa International as a sewa-minded voluntary organization. It was also an opportunity for shakha karyakartas to have outreach in immediate surroundings and involve members of the society in its endeavours.
17. UK NRI NAMED BUSINESSWOMAN OF THE YEAR: An NRI principal of a college has been honoured with a prestigious businesswoman of the year award for transforming her institution into one of the top in the UK.
West Nottinghamshire College principal and NRI chief executive Asha Khemka has been crowned as the Midlands Businesswoman of the year. Since taking over at the Mansfield college in 2006, Khemka has transformed it into one of the top colleges in the country, with more than 25,000 students, a grade one "Outstanding" ranking from Ofsted and category 'A' financial status.
Khemka arrived in the UK aged 25, with her husband and three young children and no formal qualifications. She overcame significant cultural and language barriers to become the first female principal of a UK college to be born and raised in Bharat.
18. SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN: Visitors:,Pravas: Shri Ravikumar, SahSamyojak, Vishwa Vibhag will be going to Singpore to take part in Geeta Conference.
19. FOOD FOR THOUGHT: The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly. – The Buddha.
JAI SREE RAM
Resolution – 1: STRENGTHEN BORDER SECURITY: In a resolution on Border Security, the ABKM expressed grave concern over the relentless campaign by the expansionist China to encroach upon Bharatiya territory.
Deploring the attempts by the political dispensation to gag the media and underplay the incidents of 270 Line of Control violations and 2,285 instances of “aggressive border patrolling” by the People's Liberation Army of China last year; ABKM termed the statements of leaders about the defence preparedness disheartening and demoralizing.
It commented that except for the historic decision of providing asylum to HH the Dalai Lama, our handling of the Tibetan question has all along been a series of blunders ending up in practically endorsing Chinese annexation of that sovereign and independent country.
The ABKM viewed Bharat’s response to these acts of aggression grossly inadequate and called upon the Government to take immediate steps to strengthen borders on Bharat-Tibet side as well as other borders like the maritime border, Bharat-Pak and Bharat-Bangladesh border. It is necessary to enhance the response capability of the forces on the Bharat-Tibet border in the face of the huge military build up and infrastructure building by China on the other side.
It noted that the Chinese have deployed three Es – Engagement, Encirclement and Encouragement of enemies – as their tactical weapons to harass Bharat. The ABKM regreted that the pussyfooting of Bharatiya Government is resulting in not only the setbacks on territory front but also on the diplomatic front. China has succeeded in raking up Arunachal Pradesh issue in the Asian Development Bank with a view to scuttle efforts to secure loans for developmental activity in that state. It unsuccessfully tried to prevent the Nuclear Supplier Group countries from lifting sanctions against our country.
The ABKM reminded the Government that it must proceed in the spirit of the 14 November 1962 unanimous resolution of Bharatiya Parliament in which it was categorically stated that the territory annexed by China must be brought back. Our Government should tell the counterparts in China that they must vacate the land annexed in the western sector and make no claims over the remaining sectors. It should be asked to honour the McMahon Line as Bharat’s international border in the same manner as it has accepted it as the border between Myanmar and itself.
ABKM expressed shock regarding the Chinese issuing paper Visas to citizens from Arunachal Pradesh and Kashmir and demanded that the Government issue orders to the immigration authorities forthwith banning the use of such Visas for leaving our country. Such stern steps, coupled with aggressive diplomacy, will only yield favourable results with China.
The ABKM underscored similar concerns on Bharat-Pak front also. Especially of great shock was the joint statement of the Prime Ministers of Bharat and Pakistan at Sharm-el-Sheik on 9 July 2009. Many experts and leaders from across the political spectrum have pointed out the huge diplomatic goof-up in that statement by way of the inclusion of Baluchisthan issue and our readiness to resume talks with Pakistan in spite of it continuing to indulge in cross-border terror. The ABKM demanded that on Pakistan too Government should follow the spirit of the 22 February 1994 unanimous resolution of our Parliament that the only outstanding issue is the return of the PoK to Bharat.
Resolution – 2: GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS AND BHARATIYA VIEW: In a resolution over the environment the ABKM expressed its deep concern over the serious global environmental crisis as evident from increasing water scarcity, air pollution, continuous erosion of forests and bio-diversity which is the outcome of growing worldwide consumerism and unrestrained consumption of natural resources.
It noted that this imbalance in the nature’s cycle is the direct result of the western individualistic worldview based on tenets like ‘struggle for existence’ and ‘exploitation of nature’. It is this worldview that has resulted in developed countries with only 16% of world population emitting more than half of total Carbon Dioxide emissions. With a mere 4% of world population the USA alone is responsible for 25% of CO2 emissions. The resultant global warming is likely to cause destruction of bio-diversity, depletion of ozone layer, increasing epidemics and melting of polar ice which may lead to the rise in sea levels inundating large chunks of land areas.
It cautioned that in our country too, the same flawed lifestyle is leading to imbalance in the nature’s cycle. Today, the forest cover in Bharat is about 20% in place of mandated 33%. Continually depleting groundwater levels, increasing temperatures in summer, thousands of acres of agriculture land becoming saline and toxic due to uncontrolled use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides are some of the warning signals.
It opined that the present worldview is at the root of this global environmental crisis. Unless the reductionist and mechanistic worldview is negated, no solution will be in sight. Lifestyle based on 'Tena Tyaktena Bhunjeethah' (restrained consumption) coupled with a holistic and integral worldview is the necessity of the day. Hindu worldview of integrated approach to humans, ecology and living creatures, gratitude towards ‘Panchamahabhootas’ belief in the concept of ‘Mother Earth’ and conservation of Water-Soil-Forests and the wildlife is crucial for a balanced ecology and nature.
It reminded that customs like worshipping of rivers and trees in our tradition are the manifestation of our holistic worldview. Martyrdom of Imartidevi along with 363 people to oppose cutting of trees in Rajasthan about 370 years back is its living testimony. Efforts for
environmental protection like the Chipko movement of independent Bharat and present
‘Vruksha – Laksha’ movement in Karnataka are worthy of emulation.
The ABKM appealed to the central and state governments to 1)take appropriate measures for preservation and development of water resources 2)conserve soil using natural and organic farming 3)make special plans for preservation of ecology of Himalayas and other ranges 4)develop alternative energy sources 5)take stringent measures against industries polluting water and air and take steps to put an end to the river 6)to ensure continuous flow of river Ganga while implementing any project.
Appropriate policy based on community participation should be adopted in all such issues related to environment and development keeping in mind our social and cultural values. So also no unjust and inappropriate international treaty on such issues should be accepted.
The ABKM appealed to all the citizens including swayamsevaks that instead of depending on the government alone they should voluntarily initiate measures for water conservation, minimal use of plastic and electricity, afforestation etc. and contribute through their own example.
Resolution – 3: MAKE VILLAGE THE FOCUS FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: In a resolution for making village the focus of national development, the ABKM reminded that all great men like Mahatma Gandhi and Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay who dreamt about prosperous and self reliant Bharat have stressed that the soul of Bharat lives in villages and that the real path of progress for our country is possible only through the well being of villages. Based on this conception, eminent social worker Shri Nanaji Deshmukh has successfully achieved integrated rural development of several villages in and around Chitrakoot.
Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal expressed its firm belief that only Bharat can show a new path to the humanity baffeled by the failure of socialism and capitalism.. This belief is based on Hindu way of life based on harmony between man, society and nature which saw a most prosperous and developed civilization in the past; where self reliant villages were the basic units of the social structure and necessity based production was the order of the day and wants were limited.
ABKM noted with distress that after independence, we gave up this basic vision, rural economy got continuously neglected; agriculture became non-remunerative and village artisans and cottage industries were neglected. There has been mass exodus of people from villages
ABKM clearly opined that cow-centric, organic and natural farming based village model supported by artisanship and rural industries can provide sustainable development for Param Vaibhav Bharat. Rural reconstruction suited to the modern age based on simple living and sacrifice (thyag) is the only alternative. Cow-centred village pattern in tune with nature, will not only be more profitable because it is not capital and machine based, but also will increase land fertility by use of natural fertilisers and pestcontrols. For most of the farmers, plough based, or non-tilling (natural) agricultural will become a better option.
This kind of self-reliant village system can effectively solve the economic and environmental problems. 'Vishwa Mangala Go Grama Yatra' organized by Saints and Dharmacharyas is a great endeavour for national awakening to tap this immense potential.
ABKM urged the Central government to create a blue print for self reliant village based economy instead of populist slogans and plans and called upon the society at large to leave behind complexes and build a prosperous Bharat based on village prosperity and calls upon the people for ‘Chalen Gram Ki Aur’ - March towards Villages.
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