PROJECT COST
The Global Peace Initiative has the potential to be the most cost-effective and successful peace-building program undertaken in modern times. The funding needed to permanently endow the whole project is less than what the world’s militaries collectively spend every six hours, and less than half the cost of one B-2 bomber.
Although tiny compared to military budgets, the funding requirements for the project are nevertheless significant. The annual support needed to fully implement the Global Peace Initiative for 9,000 peace-creating professionals at the central campus plus the required training program is $45.5 million annually.
The project has two parts:
- Supporting a group of 9,000 peace-creating professionals at the campus in central India and
- Supporting an on-going educational program for training new peace-creating professionals.
- As both the central campus operations and the training are well into the implementation stage, the actual costs are well known.
The 9,000 group
The cost for each peace professional at the central campus is $250 per month. This includes their accommodation and meals, incidentals, salaries, and the maintenance and administration of the campus.
For 9,000 participants at $250/month, the cost would be $27 million per year.
Current levels of annual donations already support 2,100 peace professionals at the central campus.
The training program
The training to become a professional peace-creator typically starts at age 10 in a student’s own town or village. Here they study the ancient Vedic science and technology of peace-creating through courses designed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. At about age 15, students move to one of 24 residential facilities located throughout India, and finally at about age 20 or 21, they graduate as fully trained peace-creating experts—Maharishi Vedic Pandits—and join the main group at the campus in Central India.
Experience has shown that, a certain percentage of these graduate Pandits will serve as peace-creating experts for only about five years before changing careers, pursuing other academics or leaving to fulfill family responsibilities. Consequently new graduates are required to ensure that the group never falls below the target size. Maintaining a group of 9,000 Maharishi Vedic Pandits calls for a training program that has 20,000 students at the village level and 10,000 taking the in-residence training. These figures allow for attrition along the way.
The cost for training a student at the village level is currently $12 per month; for the in-residence training the cost is currently $130 per month. To maintain a training program capable of supporting a group of 9,000 would require:
- 20,000 village-level students at $12/month which totals $2.9 millon per year
- 10,000 in-residence students at $130/month which totals $15.6 millon per year
The total for the full training program is $18.5 million per year.
There are currently about 4,500 enrolled in residence training and less than that at the village level.
Full Cost
The annual support needed to fully implement the Global Peace Initiative including 9,000 at the central campus plus the required training program is $45.5 million annually.
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