"Service to man is service to God"
THE TIRUCHI SEVA SANGAM
(A Voluntary Service Organisation)
2, William's Road
Cantonment
Tiruchirapalli 620 001
Tamilnadu
India
An earnest appeal in the Golden Jubilee year 1998
When Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was uttering the words, "The Light has gone out of our lives", on that fateful night of January 30, 1948 over The All India Radio (AIR), a bunch of ladies in Tiruchi were wondering how best to keep the memory of Mahatma Gandhiji, the father of the nation, alive and evergreen. Their thoughts went to those who had also lost the lights of their lives....... the destitute women and orphan girls, who were never cared for properly and left to drift for themselves in the society.. By the time Bapuji's Asthi was brought to Tiruchi by Dr. T.S.S. Rajan, the then minister of health, for Madras State and a veteran freedom fighter, the ideas of these determined band of service minded ladies had crystalised and took the shape of "Abhayashram for destitute women and widows" and "Orphanage for parentless and destitute girls" commomerating Babuji's life long service to the poor. Thus, out of anguish, emerged a purpose and a determination to continue to be true to the teachings of Babuji, that is "to serve the public without any discrimination."
This service home with the name of The Tiruchi Seva Sangam was born on 6th March 1948 in Baby Ammal's house in Cantonment, Tiruchi and then got established in the present premises by the nurturing of a series of social workers, rendering yeoman services for nearly five decades for the uplift of the poor and down trodden. Among the selfless and dedicated workers of this 50 year old institution, special mention is to be made to the founder members and members of the early years.
These ladies put their heart and soul to fulfil the high ideals with which the Sangam was started.. Some of the founder members, having had spent their time in jail during the freedom struggle and haaving lived with Bbuji in his ashram , were able to inspire dedication and infuse confidence in the minds of the members.. In the begining, the members themselves took up the job of teching and giving vocational training. The members tried their best to raise funds to maintain the free hostels properly. The hard work and sincere efforts have resulted in the present stage of the campus.
Many were the distinguished visitors to our Sangam, reviewed our activities and had a word of appreciation about the its function and services. Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendraprasad, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Mrs.Indira Gandhi were some of them.
Though the inmates are not from affluent families, The Sangam aims at comfortable living, good education and high level of discipline among the students. In the Secondry School, for want of class rooms, some classes are conducted in verandahs. The school is imparting good education both in Tamil and English upto XII standard. The school is in dire need of a spacious library hall. The vocational courses of the Sangam is done in tiled sheds. The existing auditorium with asbestos roofing needs to be converted.
It is our earnest request that we get encouragement and support from the public to do more to the needy and suffering in the years to come.
We feel ever grateful to all the philanthropists for their unflinching support in all our endeavours to reach our goals.
On behalf of the benificiaries, we thank you .
All donations may be addressed to
THE SECRETARY
THE TIRUCHI SEVA SANGAM
2, WILLIAMS ROAD
CANTONMENT
TIRUCHIRAPALLI 620 001
TAMILNADU
INDIA