Satya Sai Baba, the famous living god for lakhs of devotees across the world, will be remembered for rendering yeoman service to mankind.
Baba pioneered many social service projects, beginning with a 12-bed general hospital at Puttaparthi, which has now burgeoned into the Satya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, a 220-bed super-specialty hospital, functioning since 1991.
The prestigious project was completed by L&T Company in a record time of one year, with an expenditure of `250 crores. Earlier, Baba established a 333-bed super-specialty hospital at a cost of `500 crores at Whitefield on the outskirts of Bengaluru. Till today, both hospitals have provided medical service to 40 lakh poor patients, free of cost.
Baba also set up mobile medical hospitals from 2006, to provide medical aid to the poor in rural areas in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. His generosity extended as far as Kenya, Uganda, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.
His beneficence was not restricted to the field of medical treatment. Baba founded educational institutions in more than 30 countries, providing thousands of students with learning opportunities.
He established Satya Sai University in Puttaparthi in 1981 and founded educational institutions in Anantapur, Bengaluru and Maharashtra under the Vidya Vahini scheme.
Baba’s compassion also flowed towards victims of natural disasters. He set in motion the process of rehabilitation for earthquake victims of Bhuj in Gujarat in 2001. He also provided aid to tsunami victims in Nagapattinam district and Puducherry Union T erritory in 2004. Baba constructed pucca houses for 750 flood victims in Orissa in 2008.