NRI. billionaire
Nanak Kohli decided
to spend it for a good cause in India
Newe Delhi, June 15, 2005
Prem Chopra
NRI billionaire Nanak Kohli, 73, known as the ‘‘Rolls
Royce Sikh of Washington’’, explains how
he came to focus on the girl chid. ‘‘I wanted
to start a project for the best of the best, but then
the writer Khushwant Singh advised me to concentrate
on the poorest of the poor,’’ he says.
The founder of a multinational company into everything
from telecom to trading, his group is worth over $200
million. But at 73, after having spent much of his
lifetime making money, the self-made billionaire is
now faced with a new dilemma: "My income is increasing
while my needs are diminishing. What am I to do with
it since I can’t take it with me to the next
world?" So Kohli is doing what he thinks is the
sensible thing: "Giving it back to society."
But giving away his money can be as much hard work
as making it, as Kohli discovered last year when he
started looking for ways to rid himself of a small
but sizeable portion of his fortune.
NRI Nanak Kohli’s initiative, at least 10 villages
in Punjab are trying to make girls net-savvy and fluent
in English to help them land BPO jobs.
The Sundar Amar Sheel Trust which caters to 2,000
children in Delhi set up computer centres for girls
in rural Punjab.
Col Singh, who is part of the trust and urges girls
to write their own letters, says ‘‘Right
now the girls are under training, but next month they
will undergo a test to check their competence.’’
He hopes the girls will pass the secretarial practice
exam which will help them find some work.
At Mahadian village, also in Fatehgarh Sahib district,
75 girls are learning English and brushing up their
IT skills. Some are still in high school while others
are graduates. The girls hope to land a job in their
village itself.
Some of the students and teachers have had to overcome
considerable adversity. Computer teacher Paramjeet
Kaur, whose father is a village labourer, boasts of
a diploma in computer applications. ‘‘She
is a classic example of empowerment,’’ says
Satinder B Singh, project director of the Trust, who
has moved from Delhi to Chandigarh.
Word about the project has spread far. On a particular
day, three retired colonels from Kapurthala turned
up hoping to set up a similar centre at their village.
Patiala MP Preneet Kaur has deputed Deepinder Dhillon,
vice-chairman of the Punjab State Industrial Development
Corporation (PSIDC), to set up a similar centre at
Lalru. Kohli is looking to train 10,000 girls at 100
centres and hopes to make the centres become self-reliant.
‘‘Believe me, in one year’s time they
will get not just word processing work, but telemarketing
and medical transcription as well,’’ he
says.
You cannot take your wealth to the other
world
Khushwant Singh
WE often hear people say "you can’t take
anything with you." Yet very few blow up their
life’s savings in their lifetime......I don’t
know very much of Nanak Kohli’s background except
that he was a lowly paid (Rs 250 p.m.) lecturer in
Shimla till he migrated to the USA ....., living in
a large mansion with his family, Indian servants,
a fleet of cars, including a custom-built Rolls Royce:
local Indians called him "Mr Rolls Royce".
......Full
Story (1)
NRI
spent a lifetime earning millions before it’s
too late.
NRI Nanak Kohli has spent a lifetime earning millions
and now he would like to spend them for a good cause
before it’s too late. An Indian millionaire,
Nanak Kohli has set up ‘fast-track’ charity......Full
Story (2)
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