Dera to send 50,000 volunteers to Orissa
From Vimal Sumbly and Bhupinder Dharmani

SIRSA, Dec 6 — Dera Sacha Sauda is sending 50,000 relief volunteers for rehabilitation work in cyclone-hit Orissa. The registration of volunteers has already started and there has been tremendous response to the drive.

The leader of the sect, Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, told The Tribune that he had made an appeal to the volunteers and there was an instant response. He claimed that thousands of volunteers had already registered themselves for this mission.

The sect had sent a 10-member team to the cyclone-ravaged areas of Orissa. The team, after staying there for several days, returned recently and suggested several measures, which the dera could undertake. Four persons had also come from Orissa along with the team members.

Immediately after the cyclone hit Orissa, the dera dispatched nine truckloads of relief material to the affected areas. About a week ago, the dera sent one trainload of relief, mostly food and clothes. The 40 coaches of the train were loaded in just four hours by the dera volunteers, he claimed.

He said service to the people was the primary motive of the followers of Sacha Sauda. “There can be no better time for the ‘sangat’ to perform the ‘sewa’ than now”, he pointed out, referring to the need for help in Orissa.

The volunteers would be sent to Orissa in a phased manner. They would be dispatched to all affected areas for relief work. “Sewa’ (service) was nothing new for the volunteers of Sacha Sauda, the Baba said. Hundreds of volunteers worked daily from early morning till late in the night at the dera farms, he said.

Dera Sacha Sauda has a mass following, particularly among the rural people. Thousands of villagers attend the regular weekly congregations at the dera headquarters. The dera has branches in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, where the weekly meetings are held.

Thousands of followers of the dera came out generously with aid of all types the moment Baba Gurmeet Singh issued an appeal. The donations came in both cash and kind.

The dera reportedly has followers like the Chief Ministers of Punjab and Haryana, Mr Parkash Singh Badal and Mr Om Prakash Chautala. The former Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhajan Lal, is also a regular visitor to the dera.

The dera was founded by Baba Mastanji in 1948, with a small group of followers. Now the followers amount to millions.