The Embassy of India in association with Indian Social Club Oman has been organizing several activities under ‘Community Service Fortnight’ or ‘Sewa Utsav 2022’ to contribute to the local community during the holy month of Ramadan
As Indian community worldwide celebrates 75 glorious years of India’s independence under the theme of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ with pride and joy, Embassy of India, Muscat decided to celebrate this momentous occasion through community service.
The Embassy of India in association with Indian Social Club Oman has been organizing several activities under ‘Community Service Fortnight’ or ‘Sewa Utsav 2022’ to contribute to the local community during the holy month of Ramadan.
Ambassador of India Amit Narang said, “This year Indians worldwide are celebrating 75 glorious years of India’s Independence. It is customary to celebrate such a grand occasion through cultural and other performances. However, we decided to celebrate this momentous occasion through community service. This is in line with the central emphasis placed in Indian culture on the virtue of social service and in sync with the service & piety oriented spirit of the holy month of Ramadan.”
Ambassador Narang said: “The range of service activities being organized under this ‘Festival of Service’ is aimed to highlight the positive contribution of the Indian community as peaceful and productive members of the Omani society. This is also an occasion for the Indian community to express their appreciation and solidarity with their friendly brothers and sisters in Oman for their love and hospitality”.
He emphasized, “The Sewa Utsav or the Festival of Service is a fitting celebration of 75 years of India’s independence as it highlights the core Indian thoughts of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam’ and ‘SarveBhavantu Sukhinah’ i.e. treating the world as one family and working for the welfare of others. It is also a celebration of India-Oman friendship that is time-tested and will only get strengthened in the months and years to come”.
The Sewa Utsav is inspired by the noble spirit of the holy month of Ramadan including spiritual refection and helping others as well as the core Indian value of serving humanity. It is an initiative of the Indian community under the aegis of the Embassy to express gratitude and contribute to the local society in a positive way.
Several activities have been planned from March 31 to April 16, 2022 under Sewa Utsav with the support of government of the Sultanate of Oman.
The Sewa Utsav commenced with a ‘Happinezz workshop’ for Children with Special Needs. The program focused on the need to pursue inclusive education to look after the interests and wellbeing of children with special needs and highlight the important work being done in this regard by the Care & Special Education (CSE), a centre run with the support of Indian schools in Oman at the Indian School Muscat.
Ambassador Narang lauded the efforts of the Care and Special Education (CSE), a centre for children with special needs run at the premises of the Indian School Muscat with the support of all Indian schools. He said, “Inclusive education is the need of the hour and we are honored to join hands with CSE to bring focus on this important facet of education. CSE is doing commendable work with the support of all Indian schools in Oman to give quality care and support to the children with special needs. It was a pleasure indeed to interact with these special children and spend some time with them.”
A Mega Blood Donation Camp began association with Oman’s Ministry of Health on April 2, 2022 with the target of 1,000 blood units. This will hopefully be a useful contribution to the health system in Oman during the holy month of Ramadan.
The Muscat Municipality President, Ahmed Mohammed al Humaidi, said this initiative is very important because worldwide blood donation has seen a significant decline since March 2020.
“Initiatives such as these bring up the awareness level. Blood donation saves lives but it is also good for the donor. An initiative like this also keeps the society well connected.”
The schedule of the activities under ‘Sewa Utsav’ is as under:
| Sr. No. | Activity | Date |
| 1 | ‘Happinezz workshop’ for children with special needs. | 31 March 2022 |
| 2 | Tree Plantation | 31 March 2022 |
| 3 | Consular cum Health Camp for expatriate workers | 1st April 2022 |
| 4 | Mega Blood Donation Drive | 2nd April and 09-15th April 2022 |
| 5 | Beach Cleaning | 8th April 2022 |
| 6 | Wadi (Valley) Cleaning | 9th April 2022 |
| 7 | Mega Donation Drive | 13th April 2022 |
| 8 | Book Release – Atmasiddhi Shashtra (Six spiritual truths of the soul) | 16th April 2022 |
He added, “Worldwide blood donation saw a drop of 10% but in Oman with thoughtful campaigns we have fortunately witnessed an increase of 7% in blood donation since five years and we have witnessed bigger increase in the last two years with initiatives from the communities and the Blood Bank of Oman. Let us remind ourselves once again the importance of blood donation.”
He added that “This Service Festival is a country-wide initiative in which the members of the Indian community all across Oman will take part. This includes the cities of Sohar, Sur and Salalah, in addition to Muscat. The initiative will also involve the students of Indian schools in Oman who have come forward enthusiastically to contribute”.
Children of Indian schools in Oman will enthusiastically participate in 3 activities on environment protection namely – a Tree Plantation Drive, Beach Cleaning, Wadi (Valley) Cleaning (at 5 different locations each).
“One of the important pillars of this activity is caring for the environment as responsible citizens. Thus, Indian community members and students will join hands to undertake beach cleaning and Wadi cleaning at 5 different locations in Oman simultaneously. A tree plantation drive involving Indian students will contribute to the Government of Oman’s drive to plant 10 million trees”.
In addition to the above, a Free Health checkup & Consular camp have been organized for blue collar workers.
Indian community members have been actively participating in a Mega Donation drive organized in collaboration with the Dar Al Atta foundation with support of Ministry of Social Development.
‘Sewa Utsav’ is an opportunity for the Indian community to join hands and contribute to the local Omani society. It is hoped that this event, commemorating 75 glorious years of India’s independence, will deepen and strengthen the fraternal bonds of friendship between Indian and Omani people.
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