Reliance Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Reliance Industries, has been working for the welfare of different sections of society, since its inception. Its Founder and Chairperson, Nita Ambani is completely dedicated to its cause.
Lives in Bhanpura
There are many success stories of the work of Reliance Foundation. One such story is of Shravan Kumar Singh. His village in Bhanpura, Madhya Pradesh faced water scarcity and had no electricity. To serve his 9-member family, he plowed his 1.5-hectare land. Sometimes he also traveled 200 km away to harvest crops, along with other villagers. To add to this, he was also burdened with a debt of INR 4 lakhs.
Dharampal Singh, now the Deputy Program Head at Reliance Foundation, was familiar with the village. He approached the villagers in 2011 and assured them that his foundation would help them build canals, provide seeds and fertilizers, and construct kitchen gardens, to begin with. Today, the village has been transformed into a green landscape.
The lives of many villagers, including Shravan, have changed drastically. Their income has increased by 4 times. From a life of hand-to-mouth existence, Shravan now owns a tractor, motorcycle, and a mobile phone. Moreover, his youngest child studies in a private school.
Work of Reliance Foundation
In the past five years, Reliance Foundation has spent INR 415 crores on rural transformation. It has touched the lives of 50,605 households, in 519 villages, across 12 states of India. In these villages, the Foundation has provided 11,482 hectares of land for farming and boosted crop productivity by 58%.232 people are employed under this initiative.
Reliance Foundation has resolved the water problems of 50 villages through the construction of 7,368 new farm ponds and the renovation of 2,000 more. It has built one of its largest lakes in the Jalara village of Madhya Pradesh, to solve the water problems there.
In the Financial Year, 2014 – 2015 alone, Reliance Foundation spent INR 761 crores, which was 3.35% of the company’s net profit.Out of this, INR 608 crores was spent only on healthcare. Sir H. N. Reliance Foundation Hospital aims to provide high-class facilities and treatment to patients at affordable rates. Since 2010, Reliance Foundation has worked in the sectors of health, education, rural transformation and development of arts and culture. Disaster relief is the fifth cause that was added to Reliance Foundation, later.
Sudarshan Suchi, Mentor at Reliance Foundation, believes that the approach of any organization working for development should be open-ended. He stated that unlike other organizations, Reliance Foundation does not work for people in the nearest town or city but reaches out to the needy in the remotest villages of India.
Dedication of Nita Ambani
Nita Ambani looks after the Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Indian Super League, and Reliance Foundation. She is passionate about all of these enterprises. She starts her 12-hour long work day at 6:30 in the morning. With Reliance Foundation, Ambani aims to provide healthcare facilities at affordable rates, boost child literacy, and give sustainable lives to farmers.
Ambani believes that the work speaks for itself. She said that the inhabitants of villages, transformed by Reliance Foundation’s rural transformation initiative,are most vocal about it and will leave little doubt in anyone’s mind.
Summary
Since 2010, Reliance Foundation has been transforming the lives of the people in India and has worked a lot for the development of the country.