Mother Easwaramma Fund for Needy Widows

Mother Easwaramma Scholarships for the Girl Students

Mother Easwaramma Memorial Lecture Series

Objectives of the Fund for the Needy Widows

·         Not only to give economic support but to help such a Mahila to gain strength in terms of emotional and spiritual support by making her a part of the Sai family.

·         To involve her regularly in the Samithi activities and introduce her to the Sai way of life.

·         To be encouraged and drawn into the spiritual and the service activities of the Samithi.

·         To give her training to pursue her talents and skills so that her self-confidence can be restored and to help her rebuild her life.

Criteria for Selection of the Widows

·         She must be a resident of the adopted slum / village of the Samithi.

·         She should have no family.

·         She should have no other means of financial support.

·         She must actively take part in Samithi activities and if at the time of selection she has not been an active participant once she starts getting the remuneration she must be involved in the Samithi activities.

Corpus / Disbursement

A corpus fund of Rs 1,00,000/- (Rupees one lac only) is created for each of the widows. The interest accruing on the corpus is given to the adopted widow every month.

Objectives of the Scholarship for the Girl Students

The girl child in India is often the most neglected member of the family. In many families, which are below the poverty line, the girl child is required to drop out of school and become an earning member well before she attains the age of majority. To encourage deserving girl children to pursue their academic ambitions and goals, the Mother Easwaramma Scholarship was instituted in the year 2000.

Criteria for Selection of the Girl Students

·         A scholarship is an honour bestowed on a worthy student with an excellent academic record, therefore he student must have an aggregate of at least 60% in the examination passed in the earlier academic year.

·         The Convenors of the concerned Samithis should do a follow up on the students’s academic performance, throughout the year through the concerned gurus.

·         The annual income of the parents of the student should not exceed Rs 72,000/- p.a.

·         The child’s attendance in Balvikas classes should be at least 80% and she should be a regular student of Balvikas, for a minimum period of 3 years.

·         The guru should observe the behaviour and discipline of the student in the Balvikas classes.

·         The scholarship will be awarded to students from Std. VIII and above. (Higher secondary school and college) The reason being that, it is at this juncture that due to additional expenses children are made to drop out of schools. Therefore we must motivate them to study further.

·         A part from  the above qualifications, the students are selected on the basis of an aptitude test, which is held at Dharmakshetra. The test will determine the child’s knowledge on Indian Culture and human values through simple and easy questions on India, Indian culture and topics covered in Balvikas.

Corpus / Disbursement

The amount awarded to each girl student is a sum of Rs 750/- (Rupees seven hundred and fifty only) per annum.

The Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation, Mumbai started a unique programme in 2001 : The Mother Easwaramma Memorial Lecture Series aimed at acknowledging the most important but most neglected section of the society – ‘WOMEN’.

·         The 1^st Mother Easwaramma Memorial Lecture

The 1^st Mother Easwaramma Memorial Lecture was held on May 6, 2001 at the Shanmukhananda Hall. Dr Smt Geeta Reddy, M. P., Andhra Pradesh was the Chief Guest of the function. She gave a moving account of her own personal life and explained how Swami has truly been her parents, in the absence of her own parents who have passed away. Smt. Parveen Sultana, noted classical singer, Smt. Thrity Talyarkhan, eminent social worker and Smt Sarla Shah, editor of the Bal Vikas Magazine were speakers at the function.

·         The 2^nd Mother Easwaramma Memorial Lecture

The 2^nd Mother Easwaramma Memorial Lecture was held on May 6, 2002 at the Jalan Mandap, Dharmakshetra. Smt. Anjana Sinha, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh was the Chief Guest of the function. In her lecture, she detailed how she first became a devotee of Swami. Later she also related a number of incidents when Swami guided her in her performance of her duties as a Deputy Superintendent of Police. The lecture was followed by a musical programme heralding the saints of India by the youth wing mahilas of Mumbai.

·         The 3^rd Mother Easwaramma Memorial Lecture

The 3^rd Mother Easwaramma Memorial Lecture was held on May 6, 2003 at the Birla Matoshree Sabhagraha. Dr Snehalata Deshmukh, Ex-Vice Chancellor, university of Mumbai delivered the 3^rd lecture of the Series ‘Women – A Store-House of Values’. She related her experience of her interview with Swami during her tenure as the Vice Chancellor and how Swami guided her to have faith, fight to the end and finish the game. Smt. Vipula Kadri, noted social worker and National Director of Save the Children, India spoke on how she conducts Grama Seva. Smt. Devaki Pandit, eminent classical singer who has also had the rare distinction of performing before Swami on two occasions commenced the function with her rendition of a soul-stirring devotional music performance.