Pujya Swamiji, President of Parmarth Niketan (Rishikesh), Founder, Ganga Action Parivar and the Global Interfaith WASH Alliance (GIWA), and Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswatiji, Secretary General of the GIWA, President of the Divine Shakti Foundation, met with Hon’ble External Affairs Minister, Smt Sushma Swarajji and discussed a number of important topics including continuing to promote Yoga amongst the global community and the upcoming International Yoga Day.
They spoke about the great success of the 29th Annual International Yoga Festival at Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh, which welcomed more then 1700 participants from 101 nations. Pujya Swamiji and Sadhvi Bhagawatiji warmly invited her to inaugurate the 30th Annual International Yoga Festival on 1st March, 2018.
They also discussed many ideas and initiatives of how to engage the Indian Diaspora to give back to India towards meaningful projects, especially towards the Swachh Bharat Mission, India and the National Mission for Clean Ganga Mission.
Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji was also called upon to serve as a board member for the India Development Foundation of Overseas Indians. He attended the 8th annual board meeting at the External Affairs Ministry, which was presided over by the Hon’ble External Affairs Minister, Smt Sushma Swarajji yesterday.
Pujya Swamiji, Pujya Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji, Founder of The Art of Living, Indian-American eminent physician and philanthropist Bharat Barai were among the new board members of a government-established body to facilitate contributions by overseas Indians for social and developmental projects in the country. The board members discussed ways to ensure contributions by overseas Indians to implement the government’s two flagship programmes – Swachh Bharat Mission and Clean Ganga initiative, the foundation said, adding they also discussed strategy to enhance contributions. The foundation has successfully completed three Swachh Bharat Mission projects in Amritsar in Punjab and Vijayawada and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, which are benefiting thousands of people, the release said.
The IDF-OI is currently implementing eight projects in Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim and Telangana, and has several projects available for funding across the identified sectors.