Kanuru Varalakshmi Rao

Founder

Founder of Swami Sivananda Memorial Institute (SSMI)

Kanuru Varalakshmi Rao is the founder of Swami Sivananda Memorial Institute (SSMI) (1964)[1], an Indian non-profit working on women & children, education and livelihood from New Delhi.

Kanuru Varalakshmi Rao, born in 1913, is the founder of the Swami Sivananda Memorial Institute (SSMI), a secular non-profit society registered in New Delhi in 1964 under the Societies Registration Act 1860. The institute runs a free school, nutrition and health services, vocational training and livelihood programmes for women, and a School of Social Enterprise.

Early life and education

Rao was born in 1913 into a farming family in Arugolanu, Andhra Pradesh. Her father died when she was eight, after which her mother managed the family farm. After her marriage she moved to England, where her husband was studying for a doctorate. The couple remained in Britain through the Second World War, during which she volunteered as an auxiliary nurse and studied for a degree in social work.

Career

Rao returned to India in 1950 and set up an organisation in Delhi to support women from Andhra Pradesh, providing maternity and welfare services for women working on construction sites. She became a disciple of Swami Sivananda of the Divine Life Society in Rishikesh, and after his death in 1963 resolved to establish an institute in his name.

The Swami Sivananda Memorial Institute began in 1964 in the garage of her residence at 9 Janpath, New Delhi, offering craft classes that allowed women to earn a supplementary income, along with instruction in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. Land was acquired at Punjabi Bagh in 1966 and the campus there was completed in 1976. She later took sannyasa vows.[2][3][4]

Swami Sivananda Memorial Institute (SSMI)

Swami Sivananda Memorial Institute of Fine Arts and Crafts was established in 1964 by Smt K Varalakshmi Rao on a four-acre campus in Punjabi Bagh East, Delhi. It is a secular, non-religious, non-political institute working to help underprivileged women, youth and children realise their potential through education, health, nutrition, textiles and livelihood programmes. SSMI runs a Balwadi and primary and secondary schools as part of its programming.

Swami Sivananda Memorial Institute (SSMI) reports the following, on its own site:

provides free eye care and treatment to over 12,000 patients annually, in collaboration with AIIMS Delhi and Vision For All, Switzerland
runs a free school for 1,000 students