Nurturing lives, empowering people- Savitribai Phule Ekatma Samaj Mandal

Her eyes welled up with tears of joy now that she could inscribe her signature on official documents, instead of using her thumbprint. She could now read aloud the name of her village 'Khamkheda'. The name she had known for years, but now it had a delightful ring to it, as she read it aloud all by herself, over and over again. This heartwarming story is that of 65 year old ’Bhama Aaji' from 'Khamkheda' village of Aurangabad who learned to read at this stage of life and proved yet again that age is just a number.

Another woman from Indiranagar, Aurangabad too found her way out of adversities. Mired by hardships of life as her alcoholic husband could not support the family, Asha was struggling to make both ends meet. It is in this phase, that she came in contact with Savitribai Phule Ekatma Samaj Mandal. She was just 22 years old then. Today after two decades, she has come a long way. She now not only trains numerous people joining her Nursing bureau, but also provides employment to them. The journey, of course, was not easy. But with right support from Mandal, she resumed her education, and completed her 10th,12th (Science) and graduation. All this while taking care of her 3 children. Mandal's philosophy that empowerment of women ushers in progress of family and community, has proved as a true enabler for many women like Bhama Aaji, Asha and others.

Dr.Diwakar Kulkarniji , President of Savitribai Phule Ekatma Samaj Mandal and former R.S.S. Nagar Karyavah of Aurangabad, shed some light on scope and expanse of Mandal. Mandal’s reach spans across 2000+ Sevavratis, through its 302 Women Self-Help Groups, and other welfare schemes. This network drives more than 43 Projects, which offer services in Primary healthcare, social work, education, agriculture, water, personality development for kids and adolescents, women empowerment, skill development centers, either free of cost or at a nominal charge. The beneficiaries of these projects are spread across 55 lac people from 45 underprivileged neighbourhoods and 270 nearby villages.

The journey of Savitribai Phule Ekatma Samaj Mandal serves as an inspiration to us all. In 1989, 7 doctors of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Medical foundation, contributed their own savings for founding Dr.Hedgewar hospital in Aurangabad. The noble Seva objective of this hospital was to provide quality healthcare to the underprivileged at affordable prices. In initial days, Dr. Hedgewar hospital established healthcare centers in three underprivileged areas of the town. But soon the founders realized that if grass root transformation was to be achieved, then educating the children, and empowering women, was imperative. This led to the inception of Savitribai Phule Mahila Ekatma Samaj Mandal in 1994.

While sharing the ground reality and challenges that these women face, Madhuriji, trustee of Savitribai Phule Ekatma Samaj Mandal, underscored that social evils of poverty and child marriage are very much prevalent in these areas. 16-year-old Priyanka would have fallen prey to child marriage, if not for timely support and intervention, by Mandal.  Mandal assisted her in undertaking Karate training in Mukundwadi along with completing her studies. She now is a national level black-belt champion and helps other children by training them without charging any fees.

With every success story, the virtuous cycle has set in and is transforming girls into independent and confident individuals. There are 18 Vidyarthi Vikas Kendras (for male students) and 19 Kishori Vikas Kendras (for female students) running under the Mandal.  Out of these ten centers are working to cater more than 15000 boys and girls to reasonable level of education. Special projects are being run on promotion of education along with various activities to track and prevent early marriages and dropouts. Similarly awareness campaigns on adolescence and all activities related to health issues are taken care of. Through these, this young generation specially women are developing in to literate, capable, self-reliant individuals and taking part in the activities of women empowerment, protecting their self-esteem and their future.

Skill development centers, while making students self-reliant are also improving the living standards of everyone, be it village or city.  Neelam never thought that she would become a renowned beautician of Aurangabad, nor does Meenakshi thought that she would one day become the owner of a flour mill. Avinash, who came to study in the fifth class, is today the owner of a water purification plant, and is always ready to devote his services in the institute.

Savita Kulkarni who has played an important role in all the activities of the Mandal from the very beginning says “The primary education centers of the Mandal are giving proper training not only to the children, who are the future of our nation, but also to the teachers and parents”. In Vihang Shikshan Kendra of the Mandal, activities like different audiology-speech therapy, physiotherapy, music therapy, parents training course etc are running for the especially abled children. A new campus is also being constructed with capacity for accommodation of more than 300 Divyang (Especially abled) children.

We have all heard that doctors are the form of God, but the various dimensions of this institute show us the extraordinary thinking of a group of doctors and their unprecedented field of work.

Contact :- Savita Kulkarni 

Mobile number 7721915223