About us
Working together for Sonarpur since 1988
Sonarpur, the gateway to South 24 Parganas and to the Sundarbans (a World Heritage site), stands at the edge of the Kolkata metropolis. Some of the greatest sons of India had their homes here: Dwarakanath Vidyabhushan, Ramnarayan Tarkaratna and Acharya Shibnath Shastri, pioneers of the Bengal Renaissance; Subhas Chandra Bose and Manabendranath Roy, statesmen and visionaries; and Salil Chowdhury, one of the most gifted musicians India has produced. This great tradition led us to found the society we stand and work for.
In 1988, through a set of agreements among some fifty sports clubs and other social and cultural organisations, we formed the society as Sonarpur Club Samannay Sammilani, a coordinating body set up for larger cultural and welfare work in Sonarpur.
What we have done
- The Sonarpur Book Fair, held every December since 1989 and now in its 37th year
- Theatre festivals and the Samannay Cultural Festival
- Book promotion programmes, including the 12 km Run for Books
- Ambulance and hearse services
- Medical services, including a night clinic and the Mobile Medical Service
- The Samannay Vocational Training Institute
- Projects for people with disabilities
- Anubhab, our weekly newspaper, published without a break for many years
Along the way, Sonarpur Samannay started a movement that has gathered momentum and brought gradual, welcome change to the way we live.
Samannay Bhaban
Our office and library are at Samannay Bhaban, Rail Quarter Park, Sonarpur, Kolkata 700150.