Jain Samaj 2020 Sampark Yatra

The Sampark Yatra is an initiative of Shri Shantilal Muttha, Founder and National President of the Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana (BJS) and the Federation of Jain Educational Institutes (FJEI). The Sampark Yatra is a whirlwind tour of the Nation, the first leg of which begins in April 2008 and continues into May 2008.

The aim is to touch base with the Jain Community across the Nation, study first-hand the various issues of the community and to mutually find satisfactory solutions through dialogue.

The Sampark Yatra begins with Gujarat (2-11 April), followed by Chhatisgarh (23 April to 3 May), Madhya Pradesh (6-10 May), as well as the three states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu during 13-31 May.

The schedule is intensive with two meetings at different towns scheduled per day. During the meeting Shri Shantilal Muttha will he will listen to the members of the Jain community and understand their issues and problems related to marriage, quality of education, empowerment of Jain girls, and the place of Jain businesses in the changing economic scenario. These issues will be analysed and the solutions implemented through BJS programmes.

Shri Muttha had earlier conducted similar tours on foot and by car, visiting villages to study problems of the Jain community. He had led a Shanti Yatra in 1993, a yatra on foot, following the violence in Maharashtra after the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Most of the Sampark Yatra will be done by helicopter so that he can connect and dialogue with the maximum number of people from the community in the least time.

BJS has the experience of the last 25 years, since 1983, in tackling various issues faced by the Jain community. BJS pioneered the concept of mass marriages and vadhu-var parichay sammelans (match-making meetings)and other social issues experienced by the Jain community. Since the earthquake at Latur in 1993, BJS has also been involved with rescue, relief and rehabilitation work during disasters. With the establishment of Wagholi Education and Rehabilitation Centre, (WERC), BJS added to its portfolio the field of education. Later, BJS extended its initiative in education to improving the quality of education in institution run by hundreds of Jain charitable trusts across the country for benefit of students, irrespective of caste or creed, through the Federation of Jain Educational Institutes (FJEI). Its programmes on quality improvement in education have been implemented in the schools under the jurisdiction of the union territory of Andaman and Niccobar Islands and the state government of Goa under the EDUQIP banner.