Amit Shah confers Maharashtra Bhushan Award to Appasaheb Dharmadhikari, lauds his contribution towards social service

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday conferred the Maharashtra Bhushan Award to spiritual leader and social activist Dattatreya Narayan alias Appasaheb Dharmadhikari and said it was very rare to see the tradition of social service being passed from one generation to anotherLakhs of followers of Dharmadhikari attended the grand function held on a sprawling 306acre ground in Kharghar area of Raigad districtFlower petals were showered from a helicopter on the activist dignitaries present on the dais and others who were part of the gatheringDharmadhikari has a massive following in the state due to his tree plantation drives blood donation and medical camps as well as deaddiction work in tribal areasThe ground was packed with people and equipped with audiovideo facilities for followers of Shree Sadasya Dharmadhikaris organisation to witness the functionThe Maharashtra Bhushan award was instituted when the Shiv SenaBharatiya Janata Party BJP alliance came to power in 1995It was initially given to personalities in the fields of literature sports and science before being expanded to include those from social work journalism public administration and health servicesShah conferred the award to Dharmadhikari and presented him a shawl a citation and memento and a cheque of Rs 25 lakh besides a 10feet garland of rosesDharmadhikari said the Rs 25 lakh given to him will be donated to the Chief Ministers Relief FundMaharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and Union minister Kapil Patil were present on the occasionI have been a student of history I have seen certain families doing good in academics while others are good in business acumen from one generation to the next But in Appasaheb Dharmadhikari and his father late Nanasaheb I saw a very rare flow of tradition of social service being passed on from one generation to the next Shah saidHe said bestowing the Maharashtra Bhushan Award on Appasaheb Dharmadhikari was an apt choice of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Fadnavis By honouring the right person the Maharashtra government has taken the award to great heights he saidMaharashtra has shown three major streams One that started with Shivaji Maharaj and was taken further by V D Savarkar Vasudev Balwant Phadke Chapekar brothers and Lokmanya Tilak who believed in sacrificing life for the service of the nation he saidThe second Bhakti movement started with seer Ramdas was followed by Tukaram Maharaj and continued by Namdev The third movement is found in a few states which focus on social services It started with Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and the mantle was carried forward by Nanasaheb Dharmadhikari and his son Appasaheb the BJP leader saidShah also said he has never seen such a big presence of lakhs of people to honour a person for his social service and this kind of honour comes only from sacrifice without any publicityDo not follow the crowd but do something so that the crowd follows you and you have done the right things he saidAlso Read Mumbai Police issues prohibitory order for city ahead of Amit Shahs visitDharmadhikari did good work at the time when the nation required his services through his team and hence he was given the Padma award This is the only family where two members have received the honour Maharashtra Bhushan Award he addedAccording to an official statement issued by the Maharashtra government 250 water tankers and 2100 taps were installed at the venue along with 69 ambulances 350 doctors 100 nurses 32 mobile toilets 4200 portable toilets and 9000 temporary toiletsShah was welcomed by CM Shinde and his deputy Fadnavis and presented a garland a shawl and an idol of Lord RamSpeaking on the occasion Fadnavis said the state government feels honoured in giving Dharmadhikari the award and expresses gratitude towards him and his worksThe work of Dharmadhikaris organisation has found a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records Fadnavis notedChief Minister Eknath Shinde who is also a member of Dharmadhikaris organisation said more than political power spiritual strength is important and gives one the energy to work betterThe chief minister said whenever he meets Shah he gets the energy Today he has once again got such energy and the strength to fight and do sangarsha struggleThe political establishment needs the support and inspiration of a spiritual establishment and this is seen in the presence of people at the function he saidJust like Prime Minister Narendra Modi presents the country before the world members of Shree Parivar also present the country abroad through their works Shinde saidDharmadhikari in his address said an award is always big showing the work has been appreciatedIrrespective of whether people are around or not the work which his organisation is doing will continue The work is supreme and will continue for ever Our efforts are to inculcate the importance of humanity in the hearts of everyone the activist saidWhen the work of the organisation was started way back in 1943 many wanted the work to be started from urban areas but we felt otherwise and launched it from villagers and we see the results now he saidEven those into politics should get involved in social work the activist saidHe also appealed to people to plant five trees take care of them and get energy from themA number of blood donation camps should be organised for children to deal with disorders such as thalassemia he saidHe also touched upon the issue of water scarcityThe activist said water sheds have been created in the state and there is a dire need for increasing such facilitiesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever