Gurudev urges NGOs’ to fight corruption
International Association for Human Values (IAHV) - Art of Living hosts an All India NGO meet
Bangalore. December 3. 2010. Renowned spiritual guru and founder of the Art of Living, His Holiness Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar today called upon NGOs to come together and fight against corruption. Addressing an all-India NGOs’ meet hosted jointly by International Association for Human Values and Confederation of NGOs for Rural India (CNRI) at the Art of Living International Centre in Bangalore, he said, “We are torn between slum India and scam India. We need to keep our integrity and walk the talk. NGOs are the bridging gap between the Governments and the people and they have a pivotal role to play in rooting out corruption from society.”
Addressing the gathering, Shri Hans Raj Bhardwaj, Governor of Karnataka, emphasized the need for reviving the lost glory of India that was prevalent in the Gandhian times. “We are a free progressing society. However, we have been neglecting the underprivileged sections which Gandhi loved so much. We cannot develop a society which is suffering. We need to empower women and save the girl child. There is also a dire need to bring education to the rural and the remote areas and this is where the NGO’S have to play a major role,” he said.
Earlier Shri Bhardwaj inaugurated the conference titled ‘Fostering Human Values Through Service to Humanity’ in the presence of His Holiness Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Mr. B.K Sinha, Hon’ble Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of Karnataka, Shri Mohan Dharia, Chairman, & Mr. L.V Saptharishi, Co – Chairman , CNRI, Mr. Navin Chawla, Former Election Commissioner of India and Padmashree Mr. D.R. Kaarthikayen, Director, IAHV.
The conference is organized with the aim to provide a platform to all the NGOs across the country to come together, network, share knowledge and develop partnerships with peer groups, regional workers, donor agencies, governmental agencies, scientists, researchers and domain specialists. The three-day conference will see leaders who have successfully worked and are pioneers in the arenas of education, health care, environment sustainability, agriculture and self-sustaining economic empowerment address and lead the sessions. Prominent among them are Ms. Madhu Kishwar, Convener of International Conferences on Religions and Cultures in the Indic Civilization, Dr. Mira Shiva, Founder of People's Health Movement, Mr Vijay Borade, Vice Chairman, Jal Sadharan Samiti, Govt. of Maharashtra, Mr. Popat Pawar, Enterprising Sarpanch, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, Ms.Rashmi Misra, Founder and Chairperson, VIDYA, an NGO providing education, skills training and healthcare to underprivileged children and women.
The conference also has participation from more than 400 youth leaders of the Art of living who have been actively working at the grass root level in the villages across India.
The Art of Living activities spanning over 151 countries focuses on a wide range of social, economic, cultural and educational activities. Some of its key areas of work are Education, Environment, Disaster Management and Trauma Relief, Peace initiatives and Conflict Resolutions, Women Empowerment, Rural Development and Prisoner Rehabilitation. Art of Living runs 117 free schools in the tribal and rural belts of India where child labour and poverty are widespread. Every year 10,000 children benefit from the education imparted by the free schools. Volunteers from around the world have initiated large scale tree plantations through Mission Green Earth; water conservation and protection including cleaning polluted rivers; and zero-budget chemical-free farming.
