An ambitious initiative took off from a prospering city in Maharashtra, the western state in India envisaging a fundamental change in the economic system of the country. The initiative aims to bring an era of corruption-free system in India bringing back the memories of an elusive Satyayug to the millions of people.
“If Satyug is the age where basic necessities like food, water and money are planned and organized in proportion to the nation’s population then this age which witnesses the imbalance of all these elements can be called as Kalyug (era of evil) and we must work towards making this era as Satyug (era of truth),” was the message given by Bhayyuji Maharaj, widely seen as a holy figure exerting considerable clout on the politicians and power to be in the country. He was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the Samarpan Yatra organized by the Arthakranti Pratishthan, an organization working for the transformation of the economy.
Bhushan Gokhale, Retired Air Chief Marshall of the Indian Air Force and Abhitek Singh Sandhu, grandson of the legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh also participated in the ceremony. Various local and national organizations like Aurangabad District Businessmen Association, Maharashtra Small-scale Industries Association, etc supported the rally.
The Yatra, meaning holy journey, took off from Sant Tukaram Natyagruha which came to limelight few month ago when a business group bought 100 Mercedes Benz cars for its officers. Bhayyuji Maharaj inaugurated the event by raising a flag of Arthakranti Pratishthan and made way for the Yatra, which will travel across the nation for the next 15 days. The Yatra is slated to travel over 15000 kms, across 72 villages in order to reach over 110 million people of India.
A manifesto prepared by the organisation will be presented to four highly regarded personalities – former President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalamji in New Delhi; Art of Living founder Shri Shri Ravishankar in Bangalore; Yoga Guru Shri Ramdevji Baba in Haridwar and anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare in Ralegan Siddhi. These icons will be requested to mentor Samarpan Yatra objectives and to initiate a team of experts to construct ‘People’s Manifesto’. The manifesto would be created with concrete proposals for complete makeover of our country, in specific timeframe, according to the organisation.
‘Samarpan Yatra’ will reach the headquarters of these mentors on 1st August. The mentors would be requested to come together and announce their support to the initiative on 16th August, at a press conference.
A point often repeated in India by commoners and economic experts alike was touched upon by Bhaiyyuji Maharaj during his speech. That the country has been divided into Bharat and India. “On one hand parents are ready to spend millions of Rupees for their children’s admissions, we also witness child labour being rampant in our society. This irony is increasing the gap between the ones who have and the ones who don’t”, he said.
Abhitek Singh Sandhu, said “My grandfather, Bhagat Singh and his associates, fought for justice and equality and not just a change in the government. It hurts me deeply to see that the people suffering from injustice are quiet and do nothing about it.”
Air Marshall (Retd.) Bhushan Gokhale touched upon the security issue. He said, “The security of a country is not only concerned with the defense forces. It also includes food security. We must consider corruption and inequality as our enemies and fight them.”