Kalam dedicates Amrita Mutt houses for tsunami victims

KOLLAM: President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on Sunday formally entrusted to the State Government a batch of 500 houses constructed at Alapad by the Mata Amritanandamayi Math. The houses have been built for those who lost their houses in last year’s tsunami disaster. Mr. Kalam who received the certificate of completion of the houses from Mata Amritanandamayi, at a function at the Math, handed over the certificate to Minister for Revenue K.M. Mani. In his address to the gathering at the function, Mr. Kalam said that he was extremely happy to hand over the houses to the State Government. He said that in times of difficulty and calamities, true leaders would be at the spot. Mata Amritanandamayi reached the spot at the crucial time when the tsunami struck Alapad region. She led a team of devotees to rescue as many victims as possible and arranged food and shelter in all the affected areas.
In her benedictory address, Mata Amritanandamayi said that behind the completion of the houses lay the story of compassion and selflessness. Though man cannot thwart disasters like the tsunami, the burden could be mitigated if people came together and helped rebuild the lives of the affected. This is what the Math did. She said that people should be able to construct a bridge of love, through selfless service, to bring everyone together. With the completion of the 500 houses, the Math has built 2,000 houses in all for the tsunami-hit. At Alapad alone, 1,000 houses have been constructed. As many as 4,200 houses are now being constructed by the Math. Apart from the victims in Kerala, the beneficiaries include victims in Tamil Nadu, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Sri Lanka. At the function, Mr. Mani thanked the Mata on behalf of the State Government for constructing the houses. Minister for Labour Babu Divakaran, Minister for Fisheries Dominic Presentation and Karunagapally MLA Rajan Babu were also present at the meeting. Swamy Amritaswarupananda Puri, vice-chairman
of the Math, welcomed the gathering.
—————————————
KOLLAM: President A P J Abdul Kalam dedicated 500 houses built for the tsunami affected people by the Mata Amritanandamayi Mutt here and praised the relief and rebabilitation mission taken up by the Mutt for disaster-hit people in India and abroad.
"Wherever calamities occurred real leaders would come and console people. Amma (as Mata Amritanandanamayi is known to her devotees) acted swiftly to give relief to the tsunami-hit people," Kalam said at the Amritapuri Ashram in Kerala’s Kollam district.
Stating that he had had several opportunities to receive the blessings of Amma, Kalam added that her readiness to bring relief to the people in distress and those displaced by natural calamities showed her love and compassion for the humanity as a whole.
The President handed over to state Revenue Minister K M Mani the key and documents for the houses built in Srayikkad and Cheriyazheekal areas of Alappad panchayat, which was ravaged when tsunami struck. The first lot of 500 houses formed part 1500 houses pledged by the Mutt for the tsunami victims in the area.
In her message, Mata said she was happy to help the "children who had lost everything in the tragedy. Amma does not feel that she is the one who is giving these houses. By the grace of "paramatman" Amma and her children were able to render at least some service to the suffering," she said.