IndiaPost.com - The billionaire with a heart

India Post News Service

Widows and their children are not a regular pick at modern charity bazaars. Seldom are they listed on the 'cause's calendar' as agendas of major conferences around the world. Working in grimy factories, taking to drugs and crime and contracting deadly diseases, these fatherless children then become problem statistics.

But when not a soul is bothered, Raj Loomba, a UK based NRI has chosen to play mother to an otherwise orphaned cause. Empowering widows and educating their children has been his life's mission for over a decade now.

Armed with his conviction, he started the Pushpawati Loomba Trust in 1997 in the memory of his late mother. "I saw my mother battle life alone first- hand," relates Loomba. Like any other spirited man, his past has inspired his present.

Having lost his father at the tender age of 12, Raj witnessed his mother's struggle with seven children and a widow-status in a tiny village called Dhilwan in Punjab. "Though an uneducated woman, she was far-sighted and managed to educate us with the money father had left us.

When she died in 1992, I felt the best way to honor her would be helping poor widows who have to fight to keep their offspring off the streets," told Loomba. As for the cause, Loomba says that injustice against widows is an important issue in many countries, including India that is home to some 35-40 million such women.

If money is any sign of sincerity, then the entrepreneur and his trust are immensely involved in the process. He has pumped in Rs. 1.2 crore into the trust. This sum will, in turn, fetch Rs 15 Lakh as interest every year, which will be distributed amongst 100 widows with a monthly income of less than Rs 1500. Raj Loomba is a tireless campaigner.

In 2005, he launched 23 June as International Widows Day to provide a focus for building effective global action to combat the cycle of poverty, disease and injustice that is faced by millions of widows all over the world.

Two years back, the Loomba Trust organized an international Widow's Conference at the Foreign Office in London, followed by the first ever Bollywood concert held in Trafalgar Square. As a businessman, he made his fortune running Rinku Group Plc after he migrated to UK in 1962, a successful textile business in Britain that now has presence in India and sources material from China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Indonesia.

He is not alone in the endeavor. Significant people like Cherie Booth, wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Richard Branson, the Virgin Atlantic guy are generous supporters Similarly opportunities are being created for young widows in Kenya, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in partnership with Youth Business International, a charity by Prince Charles.

In fact Loomba is trying hard to rope in an international organization to support his next project of setting up toilets and sanitation facilities for school girls. A canny business man to the hilt, he knows what he wants. He has employed his managerial acumen to his social work feats.

Realizing that any trust's success depends largely on the capital being doled out to the truly needy; he has selected his candidates intelligently. He feels that starting a smart setup or getting NGOs to do work is wasting money.

So in turn Loomba has entrusted the NCC with the task. "Its wide reach and impeccable reputation suit the purpose," explains the social entrepreneur. And the large delightful smile on the faces of many kids who have benefited is enough to validate Loomba's belief.

For instance, frail-looking Rahul jumps with joy at the prospect of being able to help out his four siblings and mother who earns a meager sum stitching saree falls. It's the end of a nine-year old hunt after his father passed away.

"I will give all the money to my mother. Perhaps keep some in the bank as well for my future." Any search for a billionaire with a heart should end with Raj Loomba.