KOLLAM: Defence minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated Mata Amritanandamayi’s 66th birthday celebrations at Mata Amritanandamayi Math here at Amritapuri in Kollam on Friday.
A slew of charity initiatives including compensation to the kin of deceased soldiers in Pulwama attack and scholarship for research purposes has also been announced.
Ashwini Kumar Choubey, minister of state for health and family welfare and Anurag Singh Thakur, minister of state for finance, corporate affairs, fisheries minister Mercykutty Amma, and leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala took part in the function.
In her address Mata Amritanandamayi spoke about the importance of respecting and protecting nature.
“We are the children of that revered Mother Nature. She only ever had love and compassion for us. We, on the other hand, have just stomped all over her and kicked her in the chest. Now that loving mother has fallen ill and is exhausted,” she said.
Financial aid of `5 lakh each to the 40 families of the CRPF soldiers killed in the Pulwama terror attack were announced at the function. Rs 1 lakh financial aid to families who lost a member during the torrential rains and landslides of the 2019 Kerala monsoon, free surgeries for 400 poor at the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in Kochi, 10 free homes for the poor in Kannur, and the provision of 10 OceanNet systems to fishermen, allowing them to maintain Internet connections when past the normal range of connectivity were also announced at the event.
A new Technology Enabling Centre and a School for Sustainable Development were also inaugurated at the Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham. Amrita University also announced that it had created an Rs 25-crore PhD fellowship programme called ‘Amrita E4LIFE’ that would sponsor PhDs in the field of Sustainable Development for 100 students from India and around the world.
