The largest social organisation in the world, of the woman, for the women, by the woman.
The Rashtra Sevika Samiti as an organisation is working for 80 years with the idea of social responsibility and nation-building. Laksmibai Kelkar, known as Vandiniya Mousi Ji, cultivated the seeds of Rashtra Sevika Samiti in 1936 in the Wardha district of Maharashtra.
In 1932 after the death of her husband, her son began to visit the Sangh Shakhas. Due to the change in her son’s thoughts and behaviour, Laxmibai Kelkar got attracted to the Sangh and she met the founder, Dr Hedgewar. She started a new organisation called the Rashtra Sevika Samiti for women on 25 October 1936.
With the continuous stay of the next 10 years, the work of the committee expanded in many provinces. The Samiti functions with the aim of building a prosperous India. Rastra Sevika Samiti makes women capable to fight their daily life problems with courage and honour. The organisation celebrates every year its inauguration day as it comes into existence at Vijayadashamee.
The Rashtra Sevika Samiti is an independent women’s organisation with an identity of its own. It’s set out to change with the independence of women. In other women organisations, the focus is on women empowerment, women’s problems and awakening the spirit of human-hood.
However, the Samiti, focusing on all these aspects, is also trying to develop an inherent skill, “the spirit of nationalism”. It focuses on why women should have a realisation of their responsibility towards society and the nation.
A young woman must join Rashtra Sevika Samiti because it will teach them to live with togetherness, about marriage, nationhood and Hindu culture. The Hindu culture is the life-breath (sic) of Hindusthan. It is, therefore, clear that if Hindusthan is to be protected, we should first nourish the Hindu culture. If we want to save the Hindu culture, we have to build a confident woman.
Although the Samiti functions as a separate entity — since its conception, the women’s wing has never merged with the exclusively male organisation — the Samiti’s ideological identity mirrors and upholds the same values as the Sangh. While the men are told to be the ultimate protectors of the nation, the Samiti informs its women.
In the Samiti, its Pracharikas are Sevikas and their sacrifices of life for the nation are honourable in itself.
Its everyday Shakhas and Shivir (Training Camp) play a crucial role in making women self-reliant on a personal, social, and national level. If you want to understand the Samiti as an organisation, you have to visit its daily Shakhas and various social projects. You have to understand the Samiti is strongly working with its activist for the birth and empowerment of girl child.
During their everyday Shakhas, girls play various games and exercise. Girls learn to stand together and fight with courage with the all social evils of society.
Rastra Sevika Samiti also offers a self-defence training camp to women for their security purposes. In the camp, women even trained as looking, eating, wearing and to make themselves a good woman for the nation. It’s not only focusing on women’s health but it also about those women’s character in their marriage life and society. They learn that women are not vulnerable in Indian culture.
The Samiti is also working on various social projects. They have more than 3 lakh services and 4,350 regular branches in 584 districts. The committee does more than 855 services. These include hostels, free medical centres, self-help groups associated with small scale industries, sickle literature centres, sanskar centres, free tuition classes, etc. The committee has organised more than 25 exhibitions on social and national subjects.
Chatravas is not another subject of Samiti. It is a responsibility to secure the future of daughters of the family of economically weak and travelled by social tension and Terrorism. The Samiti facilitate the girls from Naxal pidit families, farmer’s suicide family, tsunami grasta and those that face a terrorist attack.
They also take responsibility for girl children in slums and educate them on cultural enrichment, self-reliance and take care of their health. About 550 girls are being taken care of in chatravas around the country. These chatravas provide a way for girls to live with dignity and transform their personal and social life. After getting an education they become self-reliant.
Shantakka Ji, Pramukh Sanchalika of the Samiti stated, “Samiti is a women’s organisation of national skill development. It unites women and generalises their capabilities and intellect for the benefit of society and the nation. This is the mission of Samiti. In the last 80 years, thousands of women have been trained. We tried to equip them with a good quality of leadership.”
Personal Experiences Of A Girl From North East India
Prachi Rakesh: “When I was around 7 to 8 years there was a militant attack. I was injured by four or five bullets. My little sister had been hit by two bullets. Around 10 to 12 People of our family had been killed in this attack and no one was there to help us at that time. Then Pankaja Mousi from the Samiti helped us a lot. She took up the responsibility of treatment along with the expenses of the hospital.”
Matrutva, Netrutva, Kartrutva In Nation Building
What are a woman’s duties? Our responsibility should be matrutva, netrutva, kartrutva (motherhood, social leadership, professional excellence). The duties of the woman have to go beyond her family now. She has to prepare herself and her children for the nation’s cause, fight social evils.
Motherhood is important for women, but equally important is cultivating a love for the country among children. There is no need to fight for rights. It is because of fulfilling our duties that Indian society has given us the importance and rights we have now. Being a woman Rashtra Sevika Samiti is a better platform to fulfil all our duties for the nation.
Bhagini Nivedita’s: “When womanhood will think of renunciation and not of romance, only perform arati of nationality, that temple be all bright and ray the dawn verity shall be near at hand.”