- Telephone 276 0013/14
Guyana’s Saraswati Vidya Niketan (SVN) will be bestowed with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA) for the year 2025, by the President of India, Droupadi Murmu for community service. The award ceremony was held at 18th edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention which is scheduled to be held from January 8–10, 2025 at Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
The announcement was made by India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Friday, which stated that the PBSA is the highest honour conferred on overseas Indians. PBSA is conferred by the President of India as part of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention on Non-Resident Indians, Persons of Indian Origin or an organisation/institution established and run by the Non-Resident Indians or Persons of Indian Origin in recognition of their outstanding achievements both in India and abroad.
“A Jury-cum-Awards Committee, with Hon’ble Vice-President as the Chairman and Hon’ble External Affairs Minister as the Vice-Chair and other distinguished members from various walks of life, considered the nominations for the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards, 2025 and unanimously selected the awardees. The awardees represent the excellence achieved by our diaspora in various fields,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
SVN was founded by Swami Aksharananda, M.A. Swami Aksharananda was born at Plantation Cornelia, Ida, West Coast Demerara (WCD), Guyana, the same village where he established the campus of SVN Hindu High School. During his visit to Guyana in November 2024, India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi visited the SVN Hindu High School.
In 2023, Guyana’s President, Dr Irfaan Ali was conferred with the PBSA, by the President of India, Honourable Droupadi Murmu. The award ceremony was held at the valedictory session of the 17th PBD Convention 2023, Indore, India.
Source: Guyana Times January 5, 2025 Edition
Youtube: Valedictory Session and Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards Ceremony (January 10, 2025)
Seen below: SVN’s Principal and Founder, Swami Aksharananda Ji, receiving the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA) for 2025 from the President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu.
Saraswati Vidya Niketan (SVN) is a non-governmental organisation and not-for-profit secondary school. SVN is located in the secure premises of the Cornelia Ida Temple, WCD.
The sod-turning or Bhumi Puja for the construction work was performed on Shri Krishna Janamashtami day, 1998. Classes in the brand new two-storeyed concrete building of approximately 7,200 square feet began on September 5th, 2002.
