Rajashree Birla Age, Husband, Children, Family, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Rajashree Birla

• She was engaged to Aditya Vikram Birla when she was 10 years old. Her marriage was conducted in three stages as per the Marwari tradition.

• The first stage was her engagement ceremony, performed when she was 10 years old. The second stage was the initial ceremony of marriage, conducted when she was 14, and the third stage, the ceremony of ‘gauna and vidai’ was held when she was 17 years old.

• After marriage, Rajashree moved to Kolkata into the house of her in-laws.

• Rajashree’s father was closely associated with Mahatma Gandhi, whose influence stayed in the family. In an interview, she said that Gahndhiji’s philosophy ‘to live with simplicity’ and Bhagwat Geeta’s influence made her imbibe the values of kindness and simplicity.

• In 1995, Rajashree Birla joined the charity arm of the Aditya Birla Group named the ‘Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development (ABCCIR).’ A huge amount has been donated to the education sector by ABCCIR. It set up 42 schools and has taken the financial responsibility of about 18,000 children’s education.

• She manages a health initiative, which conducts approx 3500 medical camps every year. Rajashree has donated US$1 million to Rotary International for the elimination of polio.
  

  Rajashree Birla (Right) at the Rotary International Convention in 2017

• Rajashree’s social contributions are also present in countries like Egypt and Thailand.

• With ABCCIR, Rajashree worked on several issues related to women’s empowerment, employment opportunities, physically disabled people, and health. She donated to open 18 hospitals and continues to assist them financially. About 7 million people have received its benefits around the globe.

• She has also been involved in activism against dowry and widow remarriage.

• Rajashree has been connected with NGOs like ‘Population First’ and ‘Habitat for Humanity.’ In 2012, she organized a rally with celebrity cricketers like M.S. Dhoni and raised a fund of US$ 2 million for ‘Habitat for Humanity.’ Her contribution to the organization was INR 100 million.

• Her foundation’s efforts on the issue of widow remarriage have been the most successful and closest to her heart. In this, her foundation has provided prospective husbands with money in the form of loans to support them in opening businesses.

• She has also set up a charity kitchen in Rajasthan that supplies around 30,000 free meals to poor children studying in government schools daily. This was done in collaboration with the State Government’s mid-day meal programme. Rajashree envisions building another 2 kitchens in Odisha to serve daily meals to about 60,000 children.

• Rajashree served as a Member of the Executive Committee at ‘Gandhi Smriti’ and ‘Darshan Smriti’ from 2003 to 2006.

• In 2006, she set up the ‘Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital’ in Pune in the memory of her husband. It was built for US$ 30 million and is managed by ABCCIR through the Aditya Birla Foundation.

• She has been the ‘advisory board chairperson’ at the University of Kanchipuram and Habitat for Humanity India Trust.

• Rajashree Birla has been an ‘advisory member’ at The Research Society for the Care, Treatment and Training of Children in Need of Special Care, Mumbai.

• She has been positioned as a ‘trustee’ in various organisations like ‘Population First, India,’ ‘BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune,’ ‘Anand Ashram Trust, Mumbai,’ ‘Jayashree Charity (1962) Trust, Kolkata,’ and ‘Breach Candy Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai.’

• Rajashree has also served as President at the Sangeet Kala Kendra.

• She has also served as the ‘Honorary Consulate General of the Philippines’ in Mumbai.

• Rajashree has been a member of trustee at G. D. Birla Medical Research and Education Foundation, Vasavadatta Foundation, Neerja Foundation, Rajashree Foundation, Aditya Birla Foundation, and Aditya Vikram Birla Memorial Trust.

• In 2022, she invited the former Indian president Ram Nath Kovind to the Raj Bhawan, Mumbai.
  

  (L-R) Kumar Mangalam Birla, Rajashree Birla, Ram Nath Kovind, and his wife, Savita Kovind

• Rajashree Birla got her husband’s memorial constructed in Pilani (Rajasthan) and envisions building a temple in Pune.