Most of us are aware that there are a large number of individuals
and institutions spread over throughout the country serving
their fellowmen, under very difficult conditions in their
self chosen task of acting as good Samaritans. These individuals
and institutions faced many hardships, physical or otherwise,
apart from the fact that there are not many who are willing
to come forward to encourage and assist them. A large numbers
of people ridicule them as mere do gooders chasing recognition
and rewards. Our countrymen, as a rule, are slow to recognise
merit or initiative let alone reward them. In the circumstances
it is not at all surprising that those who are engaged in
serving their fellowmen, without any consideration of rewards,
feel disheartened and more often then not discontinue the
good work.
This apart, others who may be inclined to undertake similar
projects for helping the needy, feel discouraged and give
up the idea. The result is that there are still large areas
in the country, not only in the remote areas, which continue
to be neglected, the population therein suffering for want
of basic facilities in the social sector namely education,
public health, good drinking water and the like. Even the
existence of the institutions and individuals serving their
fellowmen rarely come to the knowledge of the public or governmental
bodies.
Shri N. Sugalchand Jain and a few of his friends felt that
something should be done to ensure that this clan of good
Samaritans are identified, nurtured and encouraged not only
with a view to focus public attention on their activities,
but also to encourage others to take up community and social
services as a worthwhile exercise. This initiative took concrete
shape in the form of the setting up of the Bhagwan Mahaveer
Foundation as a public charitable trust by Shri Jain and the
institution of annual awards, namely the Mahaveer Awards to
be given away to individuals and institutions whose service
to the needy sections of the humanity met the exacting standards
of evaluation prescribed by the Foundation.
The awards carry a cash component of Rs.10 Lacs each with
a memento and a citation.
The cash component, at Rs.10 lacs for each award was, till
recently, the highest award given away by an NGO. The Foundation
have so far received thousands of nominations since inception
for the Awards from all over the country and given away 35
awards valuing Rs 1.75 Crores to various individuals and institutions
in Andhra Pradesh (1), Bihar (2), Gujarat(1), Jharkhand (1),
Karnataka (3), Madhya Pradesh (2), Maharashtra (7), New Delhi
(2), Orissa (1), Rajasthan (5), Tamilnadu (8), Tripura (1),
Uttranchal (1). Also thousands of sponsors take interest in
identifying such agencies and sponsor to the Foundation from
all over the country.
Shri Jain has also with the active co-operation of his associates,
sought and developed avenues for utilising a substantial part
of his wealth for improving the lot of the poor. He has set
up a number of Charitable Trusts such as
> Jains India Trust
> Singhvi Charitable Trust
> Vidhya Jyothi Trust
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