SAMOOGHAM
- A Social Collective

Assistance in living support / regular nutritional food delivery at door-step to the economically / physically challenged elders of the neighborhood
Objective 2


Objective 1
Skilling women towards sustainable economic inclusion (in jewelry making, training in various dance forms, organic farming, slings-bags making etc.)
SAMOOGHAM- A Social Collective
All About the Program
Tenkasi is known for 3 things… the great Kasi Viswanathar Temple built in the 13th century built by Parakrama Pandyan of the Pandya kingdom, its pristine un-adulterated natural beauty & the Sewa mentality of its people
(2 eminent Padma Shri’s … the ZOHO Corp. founder Sridhar Vembu, S. Ramakrishnan of ASSA & SSCT to name a couple). Taking the noble thought of social service forward.
SAMOOGHAM (in Tamil- சமூகம், pronounced as SA-MOO-GHA-MM), literally translates as “society” in Tamil language, is started as one of our social flagship programs aimed at providing sustainable livelihoods & improved living standards to the 2 important pillars of our society (ie. Women & the Elderly). Under the guidance, blessings, wisdom & foresight of Padma Shri S. Ramakrishnan (who has dedicated his entire adult life from his 20s to this day, toward human service through “Amar Seva Sangam” which he founded in his hometown, Ayikudy which to this day, humbly boasts of providing a credible platform for the physically challenged with systematic rehabilitation & empowerment in its 40-acre campus in Ayikudy (Tenkasi Dist. Tamil Nadu – INDIA))… we draw inspiration & strength for improving lives & livelihoods of Tenkasi communities & its people.
Aligned with the Government of India’s & Tamil Nadu Government’s efforts toward empowering and
uplifting women in the society as an empowered women contribute immensely to the growth of the
country… we wanted to do our bit in our small way. Thus born “SAMOOGHAM, A Social
Collective” program started by SSCT whose success we firmly believe will make our ‘Tenkasi
Experiment on Rural Women Upliftment & Elderly Assistance’, a model program that in future
could be extended to other neighboring districts with all your blessings.
We designed SAMOOGHAM to meet 2 of our larger objectives:
1. Skilling women towards sustainable economic inclusion (organized training in jewellery
making, various dance (classical & folk) forms, arts & culture interest generation, organic
farming, slings-bags making etc.) which will have a positive impact on their LIVELIHOODs
2. Assistance in living support / regular nutritional food-delivery at door-step to the
economically / physically challenged elders of the neighbourhood to not worry about their
next meal
While our initial focus has been on women upliftment initiatives… we realized that the plight of our Senior Citizens has been a matter of concern despite Legislation to protect their interests. To this
regard… we started engaging with the families of Ayikudy and its neighbourhood. While doing so, we
felt the support to the elderly has to be 2 fold. One, creating necessary awareness among the
families to take care of the elderly and instil in them a sense of responsibility and make them
acknowledge this as their moral duty. Two, a day-to-day assistance (like ready-to-eat food-packets
for immediate consumption, groceries, clothes, masks, medicines etc.) for the needy (from
economically weaker sections of society) that they aren’t felt as a burden during the family’s dire
financial situations. Under the SAMOOGHAM initiative, we continue to distribute food-packets to 25
senior citizens and the destitute living in Ayikudy at their doorsteps, which is an initiative we started
during the pandemic (ie. March 2020) & with all the support from our donors like you is continuing
till today (for 4+ years). Taking cue from the famous Tamil Poet, Mahakavi Bharathi’s words which
stresses the utmost duty of food security for all…
“தனி ஒரு மனிதனுக்கு உணவில்லை எனில்…”
we pray to the Almighty to give us the strength & will to expand our elderly assistance program to more
people, more families & more neighborhoods shortly. All our women-centric training, skilling & self-help activities happen in our place in Melagramam, Ayikudy (a 10,500 sq. ft. facility) was built for in-house training, besides utilizing our smaller centers in Tuticorin & Balamarthandandapuram with the aim to reach the unreached.