Education and humanitarian service are important parts of BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha’s wider social outreach. Its work spans modern schools, residential campuses, tribal education, language learning and higher education, alongside a volunteer-led humanitarian network serving communities in India and around the world.
In India, BAPS operates schools and residential institutions across Gujarat and other states, including BAPS Swaminarayan Vidyamandirs at Bakrol, Bodeli, Gondal, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Karamsad and Randesan, as well as schools in Chansad, Bhadra and Silvassa. These institutions combine academic learning with character development, cultural awareness and social responsibility, with facilities including laboratories, digital learning, academic support and residential accommodation. Students also take part in sports, cultural activities, debates and science exhibitions.
This commitment to service extends to BAPS’s humanitarian work. Through BAPS Charities and its international volunteer network, the organisation responds to natural disasters, humanitarian crises and community needs with food, healthcare support and essential supplies. Its initiatives include medical services, health fairs, blood donation drives, food distribution, health awareness and environmental programmes, reflecting its broader commitment to seva, or selfless service.
Nurturing learning, knowledge and values
BAPS’s educational work extends from Adivasi and underserved communities in Gujarat to schools, language programmes and higher education initiatives overseas. In the tribal belt, projects such as the Gyan Seva Vidya School and Jnanseva Vidya Sankul at Rambhas in Dang, along with residential facilities at Bodeli and Ukai, provide children with formal education, accommodation and academic support.
Initiatives including tuition programmes, literacy efforts and a mobile school in Sabarkantha aim to take learning directly to communities where access to conventional schooling can be challenging.
In the UK, The Swaminarayan School in London, founded by Pramukh Swami Maharaj in 1992, combines British education with Hindu values, culture and traditions and has developed a strong academic record. BAPS has also promoted Gujarati language learning through an eight-book syllabus and child-friendly methods such as card games, board games and digital resources, earning the 2020 Threlford Memorial Cup from the Chartered Institute of Linguists. Its Bal Satsang examinations provide children outside India with structured learning in Hindu traditions, cultural history and values.
The educational network extends further into higher learning and research through institutions including the BAPS Swaminarayan Research Institute in New Delhi, AARSH in Gandhinagar, the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanskrit Mahavidyalay in Sarangpur and the School of Philosophy in Sarangpur, supporting scholarship in Indian philosophy, religion, Sanskrit, history, languages and related disciplines, while connecting traditional knowledge with contemporary academic research.
Global network of humanitarian service
BAPS and BAPS Charities have built a global volunteer network that responds to natural disasters, humanitarian crises and community emergencies with food, medical aid, essential supplies and rehabilitation support.
During the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, more than 100 sadhus and around 1,000 volunteers were mobilised, establishing community kitchens, medical camps and relief units before supporting longer-term rebuilding efforts. Following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, BAPS volunteers helped distribute essentials and prepare around 175,000 meals in India and Sri Lanka, while also supporting the airlift of medical supplies worth approximately $7 million.
This humanitarian outreach has continued across continents. BAPS volunteers responded to hurricanes including Katrina, Rita and Sandy in the US, while during the Ukraine crisis in 2022, volunteers from 11 countries travelled to border areas to provide food, shelter, clothing and other assistance to people fleeing the conflict. Flood relief operations in India and Nepal have similarly provided affected communities with food, medicines, household supplies and other essential support.
The Covid-19 pandemic brought this global spirit of seva, or selfless service, into sharper focus. BAPS volunteers across India, the UK, North America, Australia and other countries supported vulnerable families, healthcare workers and frontline services through food distribution, essential supplies and health-awareness initiatives. In the UK, more than 1,100 volunteers involved in the ‘Connect and Care’ initiative made over 20,000 calls to vulnerable families, supported more than 4,000 elderly people with groceries and medicines, and delivered tens of thousands of hot meals. More than 75 tonnes of fresh produce were also distributed to charities, hospitals and emergency services.
The Neasden Temple complex also became an NHS vaccination centre, administering more than 80,000 doses, while BAPS supported public-health campaigns in English and Gujarati. In India, emergency funds and medical equipment, including oxygen concentrators, were sent to hospitals and rural clinics.
Across these responses, BAPS’s humanitarian work has sought to serve people regardless of nationality, religion or background, putting its principle of seva into action wherever help is needed.
