Non-Resident Indians doing good for their home town is common. But what K.P.R. Raja of Rajapalayam in Tamil Nadu does is not quite common. He not only works for grass root level empowerment in his home town, but also runs philanthropic projects where ever his business operates internationally.

After Raja finished his service in the Indian Army 15 years ago, he left for a well paying job in Kuwait. There the entrepreneurial bug bite him, so he started a gym. As one thing led to another he got a plum contract for running trucks to carry the soldiers of the Allied forces engaged in Iraq.

His efficiency got him another contract for catering the forces. As his initial two enterprises stood on their own, Raja went on an expansion mode.

Today, apart from the logistics businesses in the Gulf, his Pima International Company has operations in 23 countries. In West Africa, he has mining and lumber companies. In South Africa, one of his companies sell computer hardware. From Thailand, Raja exports rice to African nations.

Ever since Raja set his foot in the gulf 15 years ago, he made it a point to do social work in his native place through "Raja Foundation." But when he visited Rajapalayam in 2007, he formed Kuwait Raja Social Movement, an organisation that brought all the charity work he was doing under one umbrella.

Now 9,000 self-help groups (SHGs) with 5,00,000 lakh members spanning Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar and Thoothukudi districts are united under his movement. As the women empowerment efforts are expanding, he wants to uplift rural youth too. "It is my wish that more Tamil Nadu rural youths should enter the IAS and IPS," says Raja.

To help the educated rural youth improve upon their 'soft skills', he is now in the process of forming Youth SHGs in Tamil Nadu. This will not only help them sharpen their soft skills but also assist in finding employment abroad.

In countries like Ghana, Sierra Leone, Toga and Nigeria, where he has several businesses running, Raja had helped build schools in villages and donated computers too. He also sponsored street lights to villages in these African countries. In all, Raja has donated over $1,25,000 so far.

Seeing the success of the SHGs in India, he is now busy starting SHGs in the four African nations. Part of the project is to provide education and training to nearly 4,000 youths and employ them in his burgeoning mining and lumber industries. "I suffered in poverty as a boy. Perhaps this prompts me to help youngsters in whichever country I operate," says Raja.

Source: INDIA TODAY