Runadhar Trust’s new approach to helping ryots’ kin

Nagpur: To provide stability to family members, especially children, of farmers who have committed suicide, nine prominent persons from the city have come together and established — Runadhar Charitable Society. They plan to establish a hostel and provide skill development training to kin of deceased farmers and monetary assistance every month. 

The nine persons include chairman of Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited Arun Lakhani, who is president of the trust, corporator Sandip Joshi and Dr Pramod Giri, both vice-presidents, secretary Parag Saraf, joint-secretary Vrushali Deshpande, treasurer Dr Manoj Singarkhiya, and Dayal Mulchandani, Deepa Kale and Prashant Dani as members.

The society and its activities differ from that been done or planned by other social organizations. The team of nine persons established the trust two years ago. They appointed two students who had completed Master in Social Work and conducted a survey to find out what exactly is the main requirement for family members, especially children, of farmers who committed suicide.

Joshi told TOI the initiatives will begin from Nagpur and Wardha district and later across remaining areas of Vidarbha. "Our team's survey over two years included visits to houses of 350 families of deceased farmers in the two districts. One time or regular monetary assistance was not found to be a permanent solution. We realized the need to encourage and train the kin of deceased farmers to get employment or establish businesses. Therefore, we plan to establish a hostel in which skill development training will be given to only kin of deceased farmers along with accommodation in the city. Hostel project will be completed in current year itself. More activities will be planned 

in later stages," he said.

Joshi added that the project will begin with financial assistance to 100 families of deceased farmers. "We have identified 100 families from 14 tehsils in Wardha district and four tehsils in Nagpur district. We received response from 100 persons wishing to adopt a family each. We will deposit cheque of Rs4,000 per month in the account of all 100 families for one year. Then the initiative will be stopped, as we feel continuous financial assistance is not a solution. This is planned as we have to begin with some concrete step," he said.

The society has organized a programme to begin monetary assistance to 100 families on January 26. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will inaugurate the project and distribute cheques to the identified families.

The plan to begin from Wardha and Nagpur districts also differentiates the society's initiative from others. Most social organizations have started their initiatives in Yavatmal district despite the fact that farmers suicides are also witnessed in other districts of the region.

 This New is Originally Posted on The Time of India

Arun Lakhani: Entrepreneur Par Excellence

It is not very often you come across a personality who,despite keeping a low profile, has a huge impact on a grand scale. One such personality is the Chairman & Managing Director at Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd. Mr. Arun Lakhani. He has been a beacon of positive social change aimed at bettering the lives of the common man.

To understand the magnitude of his achievements we need to look at his humble beginnings. Hailing from the small village of Malkapur from Buldhana district, he did his schooling from a Marathi medium school, going on to complete a degree in B.Sc from Amravati and an M.Tech in Petro chemicals. Yet he has achieved success that many dream about but only handful achieve.

He began his career in software writing and data processing. But being a born entrepreneur, it was only a matter of time before he eventually started this own company; Mahagas. This company was a supplier of LPG gas and was one of the earliest private players in this sector when LPG was decentralized in India.

Mahagas was just the beginning of his glorious achievements. He went on to acquire Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited (formerly known as Vishvaraj Housing company private limited) a company specializing in infrastructure development. However, his dream was always to be a pioneer and his vision led him to do ground breaking work in waste water management and water conservation.

Realizing the importance of water as a resource, he wanted to ensure that it is not carelessly wasted. He eventually ventured into waste water management projects and is today one of the leading private organizations that works with various state governments, taking up Public Private Partnership projects in the space of water management, conservation and provision.

To understand how impeccable his vision is, we do not need to look any further than the water project done by his company Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited in Nagpur. The project was done in collaboration with Municipal Corporation of Nagpur. The result was that a large portion of population of Nagpur is now receiving water supply 24x7. Other projects on similar line have been started by the company in South India.

It is projects like these that cement his position as an extraordinary visionary.

Mr. Arun Lakhani is a multifaceted personality and few people know about his passion for sports; especially the game of Badminton. As a result of his love for Badminton, he has actively participated in the activities that led to the advancement of the game. He is a prominent member of the executive committee of Maharashtra Badminton Association and has just added another feather to his cap by being appointed as the president of Maharashtra Badminton Association (MBA).

There is no doubt that Mr. Arun Lakhani is a harbinger of change and a man with grandiose vision. If you are looking for a role model or inspiration to bring positive change in the society then Arun Lakhani is the one you should be looking up to.