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Seva inspired by Mother Teresa
Inspired by the selfless work of Mother Teresa, Ashok Kumar, a young resident of this town, has dedicated his life to providing succor to the needy and shelterless, spending half his earnings on ‘seva’, which comprises social service activities, including education of poor students.
Penukonda: Inspired by the selfless work of Mother Teresa, Ashok Kumar, a young resident of this town, has dedicated his life to providing succor to the needy and shelterless, spending half his earnings on ‘seva’, which comprises social service activities, including education of poor students.
Whenever he comes across an orphan, Kumar makes it a point to extend his helping hand, after getting to know their background. He runs an ashram for the aged.
Kumar began his social service activities, after reading about Mother Teresa’s life as a Class VII student. Although not well off financially, Kumar, who holds a Master’s degree in Science, launched a coaching centre in 1992, collecting nominal amounts from students. With this income, he began his seva.In 2004,Kumar launched the Mother Memorial School, offering free education to 20-30 students. In 2015, he started an ashram for elderly orphans, providing food to six such persons.
He has distributed bedsheets to the poor and beggars and has conducted blood donation and awareness programmes on ragging and protection of environment. Kumar participated in hungerstrikes during the Samaikya Andhra agitation.
The youngster took several mentally challenged persons to Hyderabad at his expense for treatment. He went to the rescue of flood-affected persons in Kurnool and Mahbubnagar districts by arranging food.
Kumar has received numerous awards, including those from Governor E S L Narasimhan and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. He has been bestowed with various awards and commendation letters for his work. In 2007, he bagged the district-level youth award presented by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
He is a recipient of the KalabhushanAward given by the KalabharathiEducational Institutions of Aurangabad and the Best Social Worker award. In 2011, he bagged the ‘Uttamsevak’ award given by the Kurnool Chitra Arts Institute. In 2012, Kumar received the ‘Andhra Ratna’ title from the Krishna district magistrate/Dravida University Vice-Chancellor.
Perhaps, the travails of dealing with sarkaribabus is too much for him. For, he told The Hans India that he was willing to expand his activities, given proper encouragement from the administration.
By Karanam Kiran
