Founded in 1948, Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) describes itself as a “social welfare and spiritual organisation that preaches and practices humanitarianism and selfless services to others”.
The main centre of the sect is located in Haryana’s Sirsa town, but, in all, the DSS is having 43 ‘ashrams’ in seven states —Haryana (20), Punjab (5), Rajasthan (12), Chattisgarh (2), Maharashtra (2), Uttar Pradesh (1) and Madhya Pradesh.
The Dera claims 6-crore followers around the world. Of these, about 35 lakh are estimated to be in Punjab and about 25 lakh in Haryana.
The current DSS head, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, 50, was born in Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan. His father, Magghar Singh, was a landlord and the head of his village.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who likes to be called Messenger of God (MSG), took over as the third head of the organisation in 1990.
Under his leadership, Dera claims to have undertaken 133 social welfare activities. Besides educational institutions and four specialty free hospitals, DSS claims to have world’s largest eye bank.
Besides acting as the hero in his self-produced movies, the DSS chief has composed hymns and published two books of holy songs. Dera Sacha Sauda envisions a world order ‘free of social evils, exploitation and sinful conduct’.
To implement ‘welfare activities’, teams of volunteers are at every level — from national, regional, state, district and block to village.
A dedicated special group, “Shah Satnam Ji Green ‘S’ Welfare Force Wing,” has been formed in order to rehabilitate people who have been affected by natural disasters.
To eradicate prostitution, the Dera chief has motivated about 1,500 “noble souls” to marry women who were into prostitution.
Twenty-nine girls, who have been orphaned, deserted, or rescued from foeticide have been adopted by the DSS chief. Likewise, 42 orphaned and destitute boys have also been adopted by the DSS chief.
The organisation also runs schools and sports clubs.