History of BNS

Bidasar Yuvak Parishad was formed by youths of Bidasar based in Kolkata. It was duly registered under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961.

Bidasar Yuvak Parishad held its first cultural function on 25 July 1982 at Kala Mandir Auditorium, Kolkata. A souvenir was also published on the occasion.

The above team continued to work for next 6-7 years. Another function was held on 3 November 1985 at Vidya Mandir, Kolkata, during which the first official directory of Bidasar families in Kolkata was published. Several other activities of public interest were also undertaken by this team during this period.

Bidasar Nagrik Sangh was formed in 1986–87 under the stewardship of Late Manik Chandji Banthia, with its working office at 4, Raja Woodmunt Street, Kolkata. Shri Manak Chand Ji Banthia became its first president, supported by Shri Nortan Bothra as secretary and Shri Sampat Mal Bengani as treasurer.Later Shri Khinw Karan Doshi took responsibility of President and he was supported by Shri Mahavir Lal Baid as secretary and Shri Sampat Mal Bengani as treasurer. These were initial formative years of Nagrik Sangh with contributions from various satalwarts from Bidasar Wasi at Kolkata

As the organisation grew, the need for a formally registered body was felt. Bidasar Nagrik Sangh (Calcutta) was officially launched and registered under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act in 1999. Shri Jiwraj Sethia served as president, supported by Shri Chetan Kumar Bengani as secretary and Shri Sampat Mal Bengani as treasurer. An executive committee of 33 members was constituted. The same team continued to provide their services to Nagrik Sangh till the year 2000-2001.

The following decade saw successive teams lead the organisation, including Shri Dalam Chandji Bengani, Shri Shree Chand Sethia, Shri Mohan Lal Nahata, Shri Bimal Kumar Bengani and Shri Vijay Singh Choraria. During this period, the Sangh organised regular community functions on Holi, Picnics and several other initiatives. icnics.

After operating for more than two decades from the gaddi of founder member Shri Manik Chandji Banthia, the Sangh formally decided to acquire its own office. The permanent office at 5, Fairly Palace was acquired and furnished in 2011. These efforts were led by Late Shri Hanumanmal Ji Choraria, who paid made initial payment to the owners, the Rampuria ji. The total cost, including decoration, furniture, fixtures, and the inaugural get-together, was around Rs. 22–23 lakhs. All Bidasar wasi’s contributed whole heartedly to raise the funds required for this as listed in Annexure 1 below. As a result of tireless efforts of the team, eventually the collection exceeded the expenditure and remaining fund was transferred to account of Bidasar Nagrik Sangh (Calcutta) as corpus fund.

In the year 20111 Shri Vijay Singh Choraria was elected as president of Nagrik Sangh. For the years ie 2011-12 & 13, he provided his services as president of the Bidasar Nagrik Sangh (Calcutta) and was supported Shri Punam Chand Bengani as secretary and Shri Avinash Lohia as treasurer. During this period a notable Samman Samaroh was held at Birla High School Hall to felicitate various Bidasarwasi’s at Kolkata and also conducted a major blood donation camp in collaboration with TEYUP. A three-day health camp was held at Terapanth Bhawan, featuring a knee check-up camp which served 1,100 patients. On the concluding day, a dinner for nearly 1,000 people, including 800 former patients, was organized, with Shri Dinesh Trivedi, MP as chief guest. The entire event was managed exceptionally well by Shri Hanumanmal Choraria and his team, with a total expenditure of Rs. 12 lakhs.

Shri Rajesh Kumar Bengani served as president from 2013–15 to 2015–17, followed by Shri Mohan Lal Banthia from 2018–20 and 2020–22. During this period, the Sangh continued its annual community activities of Holi and Picnic providing Bidasar wasi’s an opportunity to consolidate bonds. A few notable activities included a special Holi Milan function on a cruise on the Ganges with attendance of around 1000 persons, and the provision of oxygen concentrators to Bidasarwasi families during the COVID period.

Shri Hanuman Mal Bengani assumed the presidency for 2022–24 with Rajesh Baid Secretary and Mahendra Bhansali as treasurer. He was asked to continue for another two years, 2024–26 with Mr Mahendra Bhansali as secretary and Narpat Bengani as treasurer. During this period annual activities of Holi and Picnic were organised in with spectacular success. A major initiative was taken up to digitise all BNS operations from earlier manual mode to keep up with current times. A new tradition to organise Sawan Sindhara was initiated by ladies wing and two functions were successfully organised. To attract the youth, a cricket tournament by name Bidasar Premier league was organised. On social welfare front, the Sangh organised two mega artificial limb donation programmes, first one at Mahavir Sadan, Ekbalpur donating 50 artificial limbs and second at Joka donating 101 limbs to give new lease of life to needy and underprivileged persons. A dialogue meeting was arranged with MP/MLA of Bidasar who was visiting Kolkata to discuss issued faced by community at Bidasar.

The Sangh continues to serve the community through regular get-togethers, family picnics and festive functions. The organisation has grown to nearly 600 members and continues the tradition of keeping Bidasar families connected in Kolkata.