The Hindi Shiksha Sangh South Africa held its Biennial general meeting on the 21 November 2020. The BGM was a virtual event with Swami Vedanand Saraswathi serving as the electoral officer. 

The election results are as follows: 

Sri Raj Dhanlall

President

Sri Naresh Amichand

Vice President

Srimati Shamla Dukhan

Secretary

Sri Rajend Ramkhelawan

Treasurer

Sri Srimati Shereen Behadar

Exco /Board

Sri Rajeev Pattundeen

HSS Board

Sri Prashaan Hemrajh

HSS Board

Pt Shardha Rani Philip

HSS Board

Srimati Devika Madaree

HSS Board

Sri Kishore Sigh

HSS Board

Pt T hara Devi Sirkisson

Reg. Director Durban North

Pt Mala Pursad

Reg. Director Durban Central

Pt Mala Ramballi

Reg. Director Durban South

Sri Rakesh Chedie

Reg. Director KZN Midlands

Pt Heeralall Sewnath

Reg. Director Gauteng

 Sri Raj Dhanlall, the newly elected President thanked members of the previous board for the time, effort and diligence in managing the operations and strategic elements of the Sangh. Sri Dhanlall is no stranger at the Sangh boardroom. He has already served a term as President and over the past 28 years served in various capacities. He is s Chartered Accountant by profession – Director and Team Leader at Price-Waterhouse Cooper (PWC) 

At the inaugural meeting of the newly elected Board held on 6 December, he stated that the one of the key initiatives going forward would be to enhance engagements with the various Hindi schools that are affiliated to the Sangh. The vision is to empower and resource Hindi Pathshallas so that the promotion of Hindi in South Africa is structured, developmental and relevant. 

Raj Dhanlall

Keeping this in mind, the first meeting post-election with the relevant stakeholders is scheduled for the 12 December. The purpose of this meeting is to identify challenges that the various community based Hindi schools may have and to provide guidance in the resolution of some of these challenges.

The onset of the Coronavirus has further impacted on the Sangh’s education programme. With the current second wave, creative and sustainable programmes need to be implemented so that the Sangh does not lose sight of its mandate.

Dhanlall also thanked all Hindi school teachers and officials for their support and for their courageous and bold attempts to continue with the promotion of Hindi despite the obvious challenges. In the South African context, the Hindi Shiksha Sangh has always been passionate in the promotion of Hindi. He said that we owed it to our founders to ensure that their legacy continued unabated.

The Sangh is not an island, but a community based institution that commits itself to transparent, developmental and democratic principles. It is in this context that members of the community are invited to engage with the HSS management so that together, we take the organisation to even greater heights.

  

Devika Madaree, Thara Devi Sirkisson, Naresh Amichand, Raj Dhanlall, Prashaan Hemraj, Sharda Rani Philip, Shamla Dukhan and Mala Pursad