 There
are people in this world who are treated as outcastes.
They are the people who, on the face of it, simply cannot
conform to the prevalent societal norms. Can a bridge
be ever built to unite them with the rest of the society?
Samskar thinks that it can be. The brainchild
of Hemalata (daughter of eminent Telugu poet
Joshua) and her husband Lavanam, Samskaremerged
in 1974, with a unique mission - 'To transform an
inherited social situation, in which inequality and
oppression rule into a new social situation in which
the exploiter and exploited, the oppressor and the oppressed,
redefine their social roles by practicing a great deal
of social equality.'
Towards this purpose,Samskar executes two important
tasks. Rehabilitation of jogins and elimination of the
jogini system that forces a girl child to get married
to a deity. And reformation of criminals.
 Emancipation
of jogins
To do this, the NGO organises various counselling and
awareness programmes, legal aid workshops, education
and training sessions. To emancipate jogins from their
forced marriage to the diety, Samskarencourages and
supports their marriage to the men of their choice.
Two such weddings were conducted at the Raj Bhavan,
the official residence of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh.
Samskarhas so far emancipated 2000 girls and have socially
and economically rehabilitated 1800 more. They have
started a cooperative society comprising 350 members
to make the women monetarily self-reliant.
Reformation of criminals
 Samskar's
programme of reformation of criminals started in 1974,
when it distributed 118 acres of government land to
120 reformed men and women in Stuartpuram. Social workers
of Samskartrain and educate the former criminals and
also help them procure jobs. The NGO works closely with
government officials in the process. Hemalata Lavanam
has also published a book on reformation of criminals
titled Nerastula Samskarana (Reformation of the
Criminals).
The NGO is now co-ordinating with PLAN, an international
organisation that works for the benefit of children.
Together, they plan to organise seminars against child
labour, provide emergency medical help, conduct health
awareness camps and impart preschool training to underprivleged
children.
Samskaris directly responsible for improving the lives
of many men and women. Hemalata Lavanam, Director of
Samskar says: "If they can distinguish between being
respected and disrespected, three quarters of the rehabilitation
is done." Today, the NGO is flooded with letters
of appreciation and gratitude from many reformed and
rehabilitated men and women. Samskaris also engaged
in a more difficult endeavour of bringing egalitarianism
into mainstream social consciousness.This is Hemalata's
ultimate goal.
Address: (Liaison Office) House no 8-3-977/9/F1,
Srinivasa Apartments, Srinagar Colony, Hyderabad- 500
073,
Phone: 3745158, Fax: 3745158
(Registered Office) Benz Circle, Patamata, Vijaywada-520
010,
Phone: (0866) 472330
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