Samagam (Reuniting Families)
SAMAGAM is an annual event of the organization, also known as 'JANANI-JANAK MAHOTSAVA'
designed to reconnect elderly parents with their families. The initiative addresses family fragmentation caused by modernization and generational divides.
50 out of 100 families are living without their parents,
leading to isolation and abuse of seniors whose children neglect them. The organization identifies at-risk elderly individuals, maintains their records, documents family conflicts, provides counseling support, and facilitates reconciliations.
Every year we reunite more than 100 elderly parents into their families.
Janani-Janak Mahotsava (A Program Honoring the Elderly)
Indian cultural traditions emphasize parental reverence, yet this devotion is declining. The organization observed that:
many families, sons and daughters-in-law are estranged from their parents or grandparents and live separately.
Through counseling and pledges to cohabitate, the program helps families rediscover filial respect. Organized annually since 2007 on International Day of Older Persons:
the institute organizes an event known as the 'Janani-Janak Mahotsav'
honoring 125–150 elderly participants through ceremonies involving counseling sessions, ritual worship, shared meals, and formal commitments to elder care.
Objective
The initiative stems from Founding President Ratnesh Kumar's personal loss of his parents in childhood. Objectives include:
- Bringing personal fulfillment and inner joy
- Creating environments for united, happy families
- Preventing elderly isolation
- Preserving ancient Indian culture
Identification of Elderly Individuals Living in Isolation
Management committee members are assigned administrative block responsibilities. Teachers from Child-Friendly Schools and Childline 1098 team members identify isolated elderly individuals during fieldwork. Selection focuses on those experiencing family discord or living apart from adult children or without offspring.
How Parents/Elderly Are Honored at Janani-Janak Mahotsav
The ceremony arranges elderly individuals facing their sons, daughters, and daughters-in-law in opposite rows. The organization garlands both groups, sets up a worship platform with ceremonial trays, and facilitates ritual worship and Aarti performed by adult children.
The head of the organization administers a solemn pledge to the sons, daughters, and daughters-in-law, binding them to never speak harsh words to their elderly parents or in-laws from this day forward.
Elderly participants receive new shawls as gifts. Community donations provide ingredients for communal meals featuring kheer, puri, and vegetables served on leaf-based plates. Dignitaries share inspirational narratives about parental devotion.
This event, organized by the institution, is conducted entirely through community cooperation; no government funds are utilized.
Achievements
The program measures success through community adoption.
The community has wholeheartedly adopted the 'Janani-Janak Mahotsav' (Parents' Celebration Festival) initiative.
Community members voluntarily organize logistics for over 5,000 attendees including families of 125–150 elderly individuals annually. In 2007, the Basic Utthan evam Gramin Seva Sansthan, Barabanki, launched this campaign to protect elderly individuals from lonely lives. Initial efforts faced resistance, but:
through strenuous effort, 100 elderly individuals were brought together; after the worship ceremony, they took a collective pledge to live with their families.
The first year's event generated significant local and district-wide discussion, increasing community participation in subsequent years.
This tradition of organizing the 'Janani-Janak Mahotsav' with community support continued to expand.
Currently:
1030 elderly individuals—who had long been living in isolation and frequently quarreling with their sons or daughters-in-law—have been honored with ceremonial garments and successfully persuaded to reunite with their families.