Bibi Kaulan Ji Bhalai Trust doing yeoman service to society

PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Amritsar

September 20

For over two decades, Bibi Kaulan Ji Bhalai Kender Trust is doing yeoman service to society. Besides providing free ration to widows, it has been providing quality education to children at nominal charges and runs a charitable hospital.

It also runs free stitching schools and computer centres for girls of needy and economically weaker sections of society.

The trust on Tarn Taran Road was established in 1994 by Bhai Guriqbal Singh of Gurmat Satsang Sabha who has been organising religious programmes and kirtan darbars in India and abroad. At present, around 56 centres are being run under the trust in various parts of the country besides abroad.

Initially, the trust started the service by providing free ration to 150 widows and at present there are 2,200 widows associated with the trust. They are provided with monthly ration as per their need and quota on the basis of number of family members.

“The trust members first check the antecedents of the beneficiaries after getting their application before disbursing the ration. The number of beneficiaries is increasing every year,” said Inderpal Singh, who performs the service of distribution of ration to the widows. He said the monthly budget of providing free ration to them is Rs 12 lakh.

The trust is also running Bibi Kaulan Ji Public School adjoining to the trust office where nearly 1,800-2,000 students were currently getting quality education. Bhupinder Singh Raju, a member of the trust, said the students studied in air-conditioned rooms while they were charged a nominal fee, which could be further reduced, depending upon the economic health of the family.

“The main aim of the educational institutes having their branches in other parts of the city is to provide education and not to earn money. We don’t want any child to be forced to leave school only due to economic reasons,” he said. We don’t even take admission fee from poor families, he added.

The trust also provides fee clothes twice a year to the widows besides helping them in marrying off their daughters. The trust also runs a charitable hospital on nominal fee.

The funds are gathered through collections during the kirtan darbars rather than seeking donations. He said persons involved with the trust are those who do selfless service. Not a single family member of Bhai Iqbal Singh is a member of the trust.