Livelihood

Sahyog Yojana

Sahyog Yojana for Arya Samaj Vidvaans, Pracharaks and Gurukuls was run in coordination with Saarvadeshik Arya Pratinidhi Sabha and few Prantiya Arya Pratinidhi Sabhas.

Purpose

While all of us are impacted by the pandemic in one way or another, the economic situation of Arya Samaj Scholars, Pracharaks and Gurukuls, who solely depend on Programs of Arya Samaj, had deteriorated significantly. With no programs happening since March 2020, their situation had become grim and was expected to continue to be tough for at least a few more months.

Arya Samaj is not just the Sunday Satsang or the samskaaras that are performed. It is a way of life. To sustain the tradition of Arya Samaj, the role of Vidvaan, Pracharaks & Gurukuls is very important. Hence, in this situation of extreme crisis, it is our moral responsibility to support them.

So, Arya Samaj Foundation, Chennai had taken an initiative, since 10th May 2021, to support Vedic Scholars, Pracharaks and Gurukuls for a period of 3 months.

Screening and Selection Process

  • 1. We had invited Arya Vidvaans, Pracharaks and Gurukuls all across the country to fill up a form if they required economic support
  • 2. We had also received multiple recommendations from office-bearers of various Pratinidhi Sabha, Arya Samaj and other Vedic institutions. Due weightage was given while taking decisions.
  • 3. We ensured that Vidvaans and Pracharaks who are completely dedicated to Arya Samaj and have no regular source of income are given preference for distributing sahyog. The sahyog amount ranges from Rs. 2000 to Rs. 5000 per person / institutions depending upon our assessment of the requirement.
  • 4. Gurukuls were being given preference in the Sahyog Yojana. If they shut down during the pandemic, then a lot of students would lose out on learning.
  • 5. We ensured that the confidentiality of the Sahyog applicants is maintained so that no worthy applicant feels hesitant to share his / her details. The sahyog forms were shared only with the people involved. The state salaahkaars got the forms of only their respective states with a clear understanding that they will not share it further. The list of recipients was shared with the Regional Arya Pratinidhi Sabha after they specifically requested us so that they could coordinate their own Sahyog Yojana accordingly and avoid duplication in distribution of aid.

Sahyog Yojana Team

There were two groups of people involved in selection and screening
  • 1. Central Sahyog committee comprising of the President, Secretary and Treasurer of Arya Samaj Chennai.
  • 2. Local Salaahkaars across different states of the country.

Swami Sachchidanand Ji

Vedic Pracharak

Acharya Dhananjay Ji

Gurukul Pondha, Dehradun

Acharya Somdev Ji

Senior Scholar, Public Speaker

Acharya Vishnu Mitra Vedarthi Ji

Senior Scholar, Public Speaker

Shri Kanhaiya Lal Arya ji

Paropkarini Sabha, Ajmer
Haryana Arya Pratinidhi Sabha

Shri Vinod Kumar Arya ji

Arya Samaj, Kanpur

Dr. Ashok Kumar Arya Ji

Editor - Aryavart Kesari

Dr. Radhakishan Varma Ji

Vice-President
Sarvadeshik Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Bengaluru

Shri Anand Deo Arya Ji

Arya Samaj Bada Bazaar, Calcutta

Shri Ashwini Arya Ji

Arya Samaj, Delhi

Shri Mahadev Prasad Arya Ji

Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Bihar

Dr. Ashok Ji

Arya Samaj, Saharanpur
In addition, a team of office members and volunteers from Arya Samaj Chennai and DAV Chennai managed the operational aspects of this program.
  • Roli Chaturvedi, Office Manager - Arya Samaj, Chennai
  • Karthikeyan, IT Head - DAV Group of Schools, Chennai
  • Vratika Arya, Scholar - Arya Samaj and DAV Group of Schools, Chennai
  • Ajay Harwani - IT professional, Nagpur
  • Arvind, Student - D.A.V. Boys Senior Secondary School, Gopalpuram, Chennai
  • Ojas Arya, Student - D.A.V. Boys Senior Secondary School, Gopalpuram, Chennai

Response

This Yojana was run in coordination with Saarvadeshik Arya Pratinidhi Sabha and Haryana Arya Pratinidhi Sabhas. We are also in discussions with few others. We invite all Prantiya Sabhas and Arya Samaj to join hands for this cause.

As of 17th July, we received over 773 applications under this program. Of this, we evaluated 609 and distributed Sahyog totalling 13 lakhs to 361 applicants

Feedback from Recipients

We share below some of the feedback we have received from various recipients of this aid (Translated from Hindi). As shared earlier, the names of recipients will remain anonymous to ensure confidentiality.

This feedback will give you a glimpse into the situation that our Vidvaans, Pracharaks and Gurukuls went through.

Respected  president/mantri ji and all the people assisting us in this time of need, a big thank you for assisting me and my family in these dire times. A big thanks from the heart to all of you. 

Om! Namaste to all the Office bearers of Arya Samaj Chennai. Your monetary assistance has been received by many Shastris, Acharyas and Bhajanopdeshaks of Aaryopdeshak Sabha (Saharanpur). We are very grateful for the help that you provided to us during this time of Corona. May Almighty always help you to assist the society in this manner as the main aim of Samaj is to do good for the society, ie. physical, spiritual and social upliftment.        

Please accept my many thanks from the bottom of my heart.  Blessings to you and your children. Many many thanks and accolades…you all are doing a historical work in this time of need in the nation.

A big thank you to Arya Samaj, Chennai for this financial assistance. Five thousand Rupees is worth Fifty thousand at this time. 

May the Almighty God always motivate you all to do the good work that you doing and may all of you be happy and healthy. Thank You.  

Many thanks to you . I humbly pay my regards to the person who has initiated this auspicious deed.

Namaste ji. Many many thanks and good wishes to the employees, members and officers of Arya Samaj Chennai. May all of you have a long life and may you and your families prosper. This is our humble wish for you

Reason for nation-wide collaboration for Sahyog Yojana

While we understood that many Arya Samaj and individuals might be supporting Arya Vidvaans and Pracharaks, we believe it would multiply our impact if we coordinated centrally in this program. Key benefits being:

  • 1. If we adopted only a local approach to distributing aid, i.e., each Arya Samaj distributing aid to the local Vidvaans / Pracharaks in need, there are many places where the local Arya Samaj may not be capable of providing aid or there may not be any Samaj.
  • 2. A centralised selection and distribution list created with local inputs would help to ensure that proper screening is done and only worthy applicants get the aid.
  • 3. There would be uniformity in distribution of aid – the same applicant would not get aid from multiple sources while there are other worthy applicants who may be left out.
  • 4. It ensured that the applicants get aid in the most respectful manner, ensuring maximum confidentiality with an assurance of regularity.
  • 5. It saved the effort in inviting applications, screening them and distributing aid.

Donors

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In Hindi