t RAMAKRISHNA MISSION t STUDENTS' HOME MYLAPORE, CHENNAI-600 004 (A Branch of the Ramakrishna Mission with its Headquarters at Belur Math (P.O.) Dist. Howrah (W.B.) - 711 202) Established : 17th February, 1905 Affiliated : 1918 ONE HUNDRED AND TENTH ANNUAL REPORT 01-04-2014 to 31-03-2015 Issued by The Secretary, RAMAKRISHNA MISSION STUDENTS’ HOME # 66, P.S. Sivasami Salai, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004. Phone : 2499 0264 / 4210 7550 Fax : 044 - 4231 2830. E-mail : [email protected] web : www.rkmshome.org t t CONTENTS Subject Page No. Managing Committee Inside Front Cover Ramakrishna Math & Mission 3 Ramakrishna Mission Students' Home 4 Care of Inmates under 6 Gurukula System of Education Special Activities 12 Chapters of Old Boys' Association 15 Honorary Workers 16 Ramakrishna Mission Polytechnic College (Residential) 20 Ramakrishna Mission Residential High School Collegiate Section 31 Ramakrishna Centenary Primary School 37 We fondly remember 47 Appendix –“A” List of Donors 2014-15 49 (General Donation, Special Donation for Deepavali, Annadhanam, Akshaya Tritiya, Home Day & students educational assistance etc) (i) From Old Students of the Home (ii) From Friends and Well-wishers Appendix – “B” Endowments 68 Endowments donations received during 2014-15 (i) From Old Students of the Home (ii) From Friends and Well-wishers 2 Appendix – “C” 78 Sponsorship Donations under section 35AC for 2 new technical courses (i) From Old Students of the Home (ii) Friends & Well - Wishers Appendix – “D” 95 (i) Donations for acquiring Moveable Property (80G) Appendix - “E” 96 (a) Foreign Contributions (General Donations) 2014-15 (i) Old Students of the Home (ii) Friends & Well - Wishers (b) Foreign Contributions (for Endowment) (i) Old Students of the Home (ii) Friends & Well - Wishers Appendix – “F” – Donations in Kind 98 (i) Rice Donation (ii) Vegetables & Fruits (ii) Other donations in kind Appendix – “G” 118 Receipts & Payments and Accounts of various sections Appendix – “H” 130 Auditor's Report and Income Tax Exemption Certificate for the Home Home Festival Calendar 131 Form for New Endowments 135 Objectives of the Home 136 Special Appeal for Corpus Fund Back Inside Cover 3 RAMAKRISHNA MISSION STUDENTS' HOME MYLAPORE, CHENNAI-600 004 (A Branch of the Ramakrishna Mission with its Headquarters at Belur Math (P.O.), Dist. Howrah (W.B.) Pin 711 202) Established: 17 February, 1905 Affiliated: 1918 HUNDRED AND TENTH ANNUAL REPORT (01.04.2014 TO 31.03.2015) We have great pleasure in presenting before you the annual report of the Home highlighting our activities and accounts for the year 2014- 2015. With new dreams, hopes, aspirations and desire to achieve new heights, we have completed our work in the year 2014-15 and solicit your continued support and guidance in future too. Ramakrishna Math And Ramakrishna Mission Sri Ramakrishna, whose noble name this institution bears, was born in 1836 at Kamarpukur village in West Bengal. He lived for just 50 years but during this short period he became the harbinger of world peace by peeping into the spiritual domain and discovering the truth “As many faiths - so many paths to reach God”. Several brilliant young men were attracted to him and they became his ardent disciples. After this great master attained Mahasamadhi, his disciples, led by the illustrious son of India, Swami Vivekananda organised the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission with their Headquarters at Belur in Howrah Dist (West Bengal). Both the Math and Mission gradually extended their spheres of activities resulting in a number of branches coming into existence in different parts of the country and abroad. Though both the Math and Mission take up charitable and philanthropic activities, the Math lays emphasis on religion and preaching, while the Mission is wedded mainly to social welfare activities like educational, medical, distress relief and rehabilitation activities, guided by the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda who taught the world that service to fellow beings is service to GOD. 4 Ramakrishna Mission Students' Home Swami Ramakrishnananda, a direct disciple of Bhagawan Sri Ramakrishna was sent by Swami Vivekananda to Chennai to spread the message of Sri Ramakrishna in the South. After starting the Math in Chennai, he felt the necessity for an orphanage where free board and lodging could be provided for orphan and destitute students. With his blessings and at his behest Sri C.Ramaswami Iyengar, an ardent devotee of Swami Ramakrishnananda started the Home on the 17 February 1905 with 5 orphan boys in a small building in Mylapore, given free of rent by Dr. M.C.Nanjunda Rao. It was shifted afterwards from one rented building to another to accommodate more and more boys. In 1916, Sri S.G.Srinivasachariar made a generous gift of a valuable building site of 15 grounds in Mylapore to the Home. Later, the adjoining piece of 11 grounds was acquired. Thanks to the pioneering efforts of the indefatigable C.Ramasamy Iyengar a massive building was constructed on this land. Swami Brahmananda, the spiritual son of Sri Ramakrishna, laid the foundation stone for this building on 6 May 1917, Buddha Poornima, the birthday of Lord Buddha and he himself inaugurated the new building on Akshya Tritiya day on 10 May 1921. The Home was formally affiliated to the Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math in 1918. After Ramaswamy Iyengar's death in 1932, his cousin Ramanujachariar took over as Secretary of the Home. During his stewardship the Home grew from strength to strength. The number of boys admitted in the Home increased to 295 as on 1955. The Home is the earliest educational institution of Ramakrishna Mission in South India and almost all educational institutions of the Mission in erstwhile Madras city have grown under its fostering care in their early years. Initially the object was to provide free boarding and lodging for destitute and orphan boys allowing them to have their education in a nearby school. Later for a fuller realisation of the Gurukula ideal, a Residential High School was started in 1922. After sometime, vocational training was also started, which was later developed into a Residential Technical Institute imparting a diploma course in Automobile Engineering. As per Govt directive this course was later changed as 3 year diploma course in Mechanical Engineering from 1949 onwards. To commemorate the centenary of the Home in the year 5 2005 two new courses have been started, viz., Diploma in Automobile Engineering and Diploma in Computer Engineering so that the Home can serve more number of orphan and destitute boys. The Technical Institute has now become a full fledged Polytechnic College. During the Second World War, in 1942 the Residential High School was shifted from Mylapore to Uthiramerur as per the evacuation plan of the Government. Later in 1946, it was shifted to Athur (near Chengalpattu). In June 1958 it was brought back to Chennai. The Home in Mylapore also provides free boarding and lodging facilities to deserving boys studying in Vivekananda College. A non-residential Centenary Primary School was started in the year 1936 to mark the birth centenary of Sri Ramakrishna. It serves mainly the poorer children of the locality and is also attached to the Home. The Home thus runs 3 educational institutions, which are the Residential High School, Residential Polytechnic College and non-residential Centenary Primary School. As already mentioned earlier the free gift of 15 grounds of land in the main Sullivans garden road in the heart of Mylapore area in the year 1915 by Sri S.G.Srinivasachari, the then District Munsiff paved the way for raising our Home's main building in 1921. We salute this greathearted noble soul for his noble gesture. Ms.R.Chudamani, a great Tamil writer of short stories of yester years had bequeathed, before her death a will to donate all her possessions to charitable institutions. As one of the beneficiaries, the Home received a large sum of Rs.3.6 crores through Smt.K.Bharathi, who was the chief executor of the estate will. Sri Venu Srinivasan, Chairman, TVS Group of Companies was kind enough to donate a sum of Rs.1 crore towards our centenary building fund in the year 2004 and corpus fund for two new technical courses. Annadanam Srinivasan Endowment for Rs.1 crore was created in April 2014 by his four sons and two daughters towards medical care, food and educational expenses for our Polytechnic College boys. 6 “Such acts of munificence” by great souls like Sri S.G.Srinivasachari, Ms.R.Chudamani, Sri Venu Srinivasan, sons of Sri Annadanam Srinivasan and other philanthropists give great philip and encouragement to the management of the Home to do more and more in the years to come. So far about 8300 students have been benefited by the facilities provided by the Home. For carrying out its activities, the Home entirely depends upon public donations and it hopes to continue its silent work with the help and unfailing support of its friends, well wishers and old students. The total number of students in the Home this year is 639. Section wise details are given below: - Admission and strength of boys in the Home Number of Number of Number of boys Number at the boys at the boys left after the end of the year Section beginning of admitted course during the (as on the year during the year 2014-15/or 31-03-2015 1-4-2014 year 2014-15 left in the middle Residential High 240 52 68 224 School Residential Polytechnic 398 146 141 403 College Collegiate 6 6 2 10 section Total 639 Centenary Primary 45 8 17 36 School (Day School) Care of The Inmates Under Gurukula System of Education: All the inmates are under the care of monastics wardens and ward masters.