Warangal Urban: Drawing inspiration from Swami Vivekananda’s words “They only live, who live for the others”, a youngster, Santhosh Manduva got into the service of the poor and needy on his birthday on January 5, 2008. Since then, his initiative has grown bigger and bigger with many youngsters joining hands with him on his mission.
“Experiencing the joy of giving after donating a water filter to the elderly residing at an old age home marking my birthday helped me win the hearts of many. I and some like-minded friends carried out various philanthropic activities from 2008-2013. With the objective of reaching out to more people and bringing service activities under one umbrella, we floated Sulakshya Seva Samithi (SSS) on April 11 in 2013, (Ugadi),” Santhosh Manduva told ‘Telangana Today’.
Adopting government schools, setting up libraries, providing financial assistance to meritorious and poor, organising health camps, sapling plantation drives, conducting pep talks on personality development, career guidance, stress management, cracking competitive exams, seminars on contemporary issues, blanket donation drives to the poor, felicitating unsung heroes, distributing clay Ganesh idols, blood donation drives, and providing basic needs to orphanages and old age homes are some of the activities taken up the Sulakshya Seva Samithi.
“Most importantly, the relief activities carried out by us during the Covid-19 pandemic by helping out thousands of families in distress during such tough and challenging times despite knowing that the deadly virus may contract us definitely gave us utmost satisfaction. We have worked for 12 hours a day for almost two months, distributed around 1000 dry ration kits, 2000 SafEnergy kits, 500 veggie kits, 2000 migrant refreshment kits, 5000 masks, 3000 sanitizers and also arranged transportation to migrants who were seen walking hundreds of miles in the soaring heat to reach their native villages. We spent around Rs 12 lakhs during the Covid-19 lockdown period,” Santhosh added.
Learning about Sulakshya’s activities through an email sent by Santhosh, late president APJ Abdul Kalam invited him to Raj Bhavan in Hyderabad on May 13, 2015, appreciated his efforts and gifted him his autobiography “Wings of Fire”.
Sulakshya received the best NGO award on August 15, 2014, and January 26, 2016 from the district collector.
Organisations such as Telangana American Telugu Association, Viayeebhava trust, Kakatiya University (KU), various other educational institutions and organisations have recognised the efforts of Sulakshya Seva Samithi and have awarded the organisation. While there are nearly 150 people in the organisation, which include NRIs residing in the US and UK, the Samithi has spent so far nearly Rs 50 lakhs on service activities. Padma Sri ‘Vanjeevi’ Ramaiah, Former IPS officer VV Lakshminarayana, former VC of KU Prof V Gopal Reddy were among those who attended the programmes organised by the SSS.
“We wish to continue our activities, reach out to more underprivileged and make a positive impact in their lives. We are committed to Educate, Empower and Enlighten the lives of many in the future,” Santhosh concludes.
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