Swami Vivekananda visualised a regenerated India through blending of oriental spirituality with occidental science and technology. He said that the aim of education must be to solve the problems of life. In his view education is all round development of physical, intellectual, moral and spiritual values. His greatest contribution was to open the minds of individuals to their duty to the downtrodden masses. He fought to revive the spirit of humanism in education. In his view education is not identical with information. He said education should lay proper emphasis on creativity, originality and excellence. With this vision in mind “Ramakrishna Mission Samaj Sevak Sikshan Mandir” started its maiden journey in the year 1986 under the aegis of Ramakrishna Mission Saradapitha, a branch centre of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math, Howrah, West Bengal.
In the same year the flagship programme of the institute – 10 month long free residential course viz. “Rural Entrepreneurship Development Programme (REDP)” was launched.
| CHARACTERISTIC & OBJECTIVES |
* To develop human resources in the rural India and to improve the socio-economic condition of its people through skill development and income generation.
* To upgrade the traditional knowledge and skill of the farmers and the rural artisans in the light of continuous research and development in the national and international level.
* To create scientific temperament amongst the rural folks and an eagerness to adopt new technology and innovation.
* To build character on the basis of higher truths of spirituality and value education as character building was fundamental in Vivekananda’s concept of education.
* To instil confidence and determination in the minds of trainees.
* Generate self-confidence & determination in the minds of trainees so that they can venture to float new enterprises for self-employment at their respective villages after completing the training.
| PRESENT STATUS |
In the year 2007-08 (17 March 2008) the institute entered into a tie-up arrangement with UBI (United Bank of India) and NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development) to function as a RUDSETI (Rural Development & Self Employment Training Institute) type institute for conducting various skill development training programmes on equal cost sharing basis.
During the course of its long journey some events of 2011-12 and 2012-13 deserves special mention. On the basis of its performance during 2011-12 the institute earned ‘A’ grade and on the performance of 2012-13 ranked 3rd best RSETI amongst all the RSETIs in India by NAR (National Academy of RUDSETI) under the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Govt. of India.
At now this Institute continues to enjoy “AA” grade status for the last several years. Several other short term training programmes are sponsored separately by NABARD, West Bengal Swarojgar Corporation Ltd. (WBSCL), DRDC, Howrah; DIC, Howrah; Coconut Development Board (CDB), Govt. of India; Hindalco Industries Ltd. etc.
