Lord Raj Loomba to speak at the inaugural of Pravasi Haryana Divas

New Delhi, January 9, 2017: The Loomba Foundation has announced that its Founder and Chairman-Trustee, Lord Raj Loomba CBE, a member of the House of Lords, has been invited to speak at the inaugural session of the Pravasi Haryana Divas being organized by the Government of Haryana on 10-11 January in Gurugram. Lord Loomba will travel from London to attend the event, which aims to recognize the achievements of NRIs and other people of Haryana who have made significant contributions in trade and industry, health & education, information technology, engineering & services, art, culture, entertainment, tourism and social service.

Being organized as a part of Haryana’s Golden Jubilee celebrations, this year’s Haryana Pravasi Divas will recognize the achievements of NRIs and aim to harness their energies in the future development of the state through sectoral sessions, technical presentations, cultural evening and one to one business meetings.

Lord Raj Loomba, Founder and Chairman-The Loomba Foundation, said “I am thankful to Chief Minister Manohar Lal ji and the Haryana Government to give me an opportunity to address the achievers and the people of Haryana, and create greater awareness for the cause of poor widows. It is my privilege to be a part this progressive event that aims to bring back the diaspora of Haryana and reconnect them to their roots. If each one of us pledges to provide financial independence to just one widow, we can eradicate the poverty and stigma attached to widowhood and help them reclaim their right to a dignified life.”

Recently, Haryana’s Minister for Health and Sports, Shri Anil Vij had launched The Loomba Foundation’s project to empower 1000 widows and women prisoners in all 19 district prisons of Haryana. The Loomba Foundation is providing foot-operated sewing machines and a trainer who will impart training to the widows & women prisoners in each prison over a period of one year.  

The Loomba Foundation, which will celebrate its 20^th anniversary later this year, has been the crusader for the welfare of poor widows around the world. It is assisting over 15,000 impoverished widows in nine states, including a project to empower 5000 widows in Varanasi which was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year. The Loomba Foundation has also sponsored five-year-long education scholarships to more than 10,000 children of poor widows and supported more than 60,000 of their family members across 29 states in India. Currently, it is educating about 1600 children of poor widows in 13 states of India including Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttarakhand.

Lord Raj Loomba has been honored with several recognitions and accolades including the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman Patra – the highest civilian honor for NRIs – by the Indian Government, for his exceptional contribution in the field of public service and community service to uplift, emancipate and empower poor widows and their children in India. He has also received the United Nations Association of New York’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Forbes India Philanthropy Award, British Asian of the Year Award, and an Honorary Fellowship by The University of Northampton. It was due to the efforts of Lord Loomba that the United Nations recognized 23^rd June as International Widows Day which has helped bring the world’s attention to this neglected humanitarian crisis that impacts more than 259 million widows and their 584 million children worldwide.