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{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Rajashree Birla
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1948}}
| birth_place = [[Madurai]], [[Tamil Nadu]], India
| alma_mater = [[Alliance University]] ([[Honorary Degree|Honorary PhD]])<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alliance.edu.in/news/the-alliance-university-conferred-2014-nobel-laureate-mr-kailash-satyarthi-and-padma-bhushan-smt-rajashree-birla-the-honorary-doctor-of-philosophy-degree|title=The Alliance University conferred 2014 Nobel Laureate Mr. Kailash Satyarthi and Padma Bhushan SMT. Rajashree Birla the Honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree}}</ref>
| occupation = Businessperson
| spouse = [[Aditya Vikram Birla]]
| children = [[Kumar Mangalam Birla]] (son), Vasavadatta Bajaj (daughter)
| website = {{URL|adityabirlascholars.net/about/rajshribirla.aspx|Official web page}}
| awards = [[Padma Bhushan]] Women Achievers Award Corporate Citizen of the Year Seva Shiromani Award Citizen of Bombay Award 2003 The Pride of India Award
}}

'''Rajashree Birla''' is an Indian philanthropist. She was married to [[Aditya Birla]] (scion of the [[Birla family]] of business magnates). After her husband's death in 1995, Rajashree began working in [[corporate social responsibility|CSR]] and charity sectors, developing a large philanthropic organization funded by her family. In 2011, the [[Government of India]] honoured her with the [[Padma Bhushan]], the third highest civilian award, for her services to society.<ref name="Padma announcement">{{cite web | url=http://www.rediff.com/news/report/padma-awards-2011-the-winners/20110126.htm | title=Padma announcement | access-date=12 August 2014}}</ref>

==Biography==
Rajashree was born in 1948 in [[Madurai]], in the [[India]]n state of [[Tamil Nadu]], in a family which hailed originally from [[Rajasthan]] in north-western India. Her father, Radhakishen Fomra,<ref>[http://prfsmathura.com/parvati-15.html Early life]</ref> held a dealership agency for [[Burmah Shell]].<ref name="Hindu business line">{{cite web|last=Bhagat|first=Rasheeda|title=I don't dream, I just do it|url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/features/weekend-life/i-dont-dream-i-just-do-it/article3811536.ece|access-date=12 August 2014|website=[[Business Line]]}}</ref> Her mother, Parvati Devi Fomra, was a home-maker. The family were [[Marwari people|Marwari]] [[Vaishya]]s and belonged to the [[Maheshwari]] sub-caste.

Rajashree and her sisters studied at St. Joseph's convent school in Madurai,<ref>[http://prfsmathura.com/parvati-15.html Early years]</ref> Following the usual Indian custom, Rajshree's marriage was arranged by her parents into a family belonging to their specific [[Maheshwari]] sub-caste. The nuptials were celebrated in three stages, as per the [[Marwari people|Marwari]] tradition. The first stage, being the engagement, was performed when Rajashree was around 10 years old. Her fiancé was [[Aditya Vikram Birla]], scion of the [[Birla family]] and grandson of the legendary business magnate [[Ghanshyam Das Birla]]. The second stage comprised the initial ceremony of marriage (essentially an irrevocable engagement), which was performed when Rajashree was 14, and the final ceremonies (''gauna'' and ''vidaai'') was performed in 1965, when she was 17 years old. At this point, she departed her parents’ house in [[Madurai]] and moved into her in-law's house in [[Kolkata]].

By this time, she had completed her matriculation and was studying at Fatima College in Madurai. With the encouragement from her husband and his parents, she enrolled at [[Loreto College, Kolkata]] and took a degree in Arts from the [[University of Calcutta]].<ref name="Hindu business line" /><ref name="Profile">{{cite web | url=http://www.adityabirlascholars.net/about/rajshribirla.aspx | title=Profile | access-date=12 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="Forbes philanthropy" />

In June 1967, Rajashree became a mother with the birth of a son, [[Kumar Mangalam Birla]]. This was followed in June 1976 by a daughter, Vasavadatta. With the full support of her family, Rajashree completed her education (albeit with a break for the birth of Kumar Mangalam) and took a degree in Arts from Kolkata university. For the next three decades, she devoted herself to caring for her family and raising her two children, viewing this as her primary responsibility. Only after they had grown up and settled down did she devote her energy to public or social welfare. Throughout her life, Rajashree has maintained an understated, unostentatious lifestyle and a middle-class sense of morality and family responsibility, bringing up her children also with the same values. She has in interviews attributed this quality to the influence of [[Mahatma Gandhi]] upon her family ([[Ghanshyam Das Birla]] was a close associate of the Mahatma) and the teachings of the ''[[Bhagwat Gita]].'' She has stated that her favourite axiom at all time, good and bad alike, is the phrase "This too will pass," a quotation from the [[Bhagwat Gita]].

Rajashree Birla sits on the boards of her family businesses in India and abroad and heads the Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development, the charity arm of the [[Aditya Birla Group]], which looks after the [[Corporate social responsibility (India)|corporate social responsibilities]] of the [[Conglomerate (company)|conglomerate]].<ref name="Hindu business line" /><ref name="Profile" /> She lives in South Mumbai with her son, [[Kumar Mangalam Birla]] and his family.<ref name="Forbes philanthropy">{{cite web | url=https://www.forbes.com/global/2012/0604/heroes-philanthropy-rajashree-birla-hospital-school-fund-grand-dame-indian-charity.html | title=Forbes philanthropy | access-date=12 August 2014}}</ref>

==Social service==
===Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development===
As the Chairperson of the Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development (ABCCIR), Rajashree oversees the charity efforts, development activities and community initiatives of the [[Aditya Birla Group]], with the help of INR 1.6 billion, the Aditya Birla Group, spends on [[Corporate social responsibility (India)|CSR]] activities, of which {{INR}} 400 million goes for educational activities.<ref name="Hindu business line" /> The main focusses are on education, employment, drinking water and women empowerment initiatives. She is also involved in activities related to assistance to rural poor and physically disabled people, widow remarriage and activism against [[dowry]]. ABCCIR assists in the running of 42 schools and 18 hospitals and pays for the education of around 18,000 students.<ref name="Hindu business line" /> These activities are reported to have assisted around 7 million people in about 3000 villages around the globe and has presence in countries like [[Thailand]] and [[Egypt]].<ref name="Forbes bio">{{cite web | url=https://www.forbes.com/pictures/mgm45ejh/rajashree-birla | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120624013543/http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mgm45ejh/rajashree-birla/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=24 June 2012 | title=Forbes bio | access-date=12 August 2014}}</ref>

===Health care===
Rajashree Birla, as a tribute to her late husband, set up a 325-bed hospital, Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital, at a cost of {{USD}} 30 million, in Pune, 2006. The hospital complex, spread over a land measuring 18 acres, is managed by the Aditya Birla Center for Community Initiatives and Rural Development and is funded by the Aditya Birla Foundation.<ref name="Forbes philanthropy" /><ref name="Forbes bio" />

Rajashree also oversees the running of a healthcare initiative which conducts around 3500 medical camps a year, attending to reportedly 3 million patients. The initiative also conducts around 20,000 polio vaccines to children.<ref name="Forbes philanthropy" /> Rajashree has also donated US$1 million to Rotary International for the eradication of polio.<ref name="polio">{{cite web | url=https://www.forbes.com/global/2012/0604/heroes-philanthropy-rajashree-birla-hospital-school-fund-grand-dame-indian-charity.html | title=Polio | access-date=12 August 2014}}</ref>

===Other social activities===
Rajashree Birla is in active association with Population First a [[non-governmental organisation]] dedicated to the cause of female foeticide. She maintains a close association with [[Habitat for Humanity]], sits on the Boards of its Asia Pacific and Global committees and attended [[Habitat for Humanity|Habitat]] conference in [[Manila]], the Philippines, in 2012. The same year, she rallied a group of celebrity [[cricketer]]s such as [[M. S. Dhoni]] and collected a sum of {{USD}} 2 million for the efforts of the organization. She has personally arranged a contribution of {{INR}} 100 million to the [[Habitat for Humanity]].<ref name="Hindu business line" />

On the issue of widow remarriage, which is still a taboo among many village people in India, Rajashree and her volunteers have worked with the village chieftains for their support. She is reported to be largely successful and her foundation has distributed monies in the form of loans to the prospective husbands for starting small businesses. She admits that this initiative is the one closest to her heart<ref name="Forbes philanthropy" />

In [[Rajasthan]], she has helped build a charity kitchen which supplies 30,000 meals every day, in association with the State Government's free lunch program for poor children studying in Government schools. She is in the process of setting up two more kitchens in [[Odisha]], at a cost of {{USD}} one million, to cater to 60,000 children. She is also planning to open vocational institutes in [[Kerala]].<ref name="Forbes philanthropy" />

Rajashree Birla has built a memorial to her late husband in Pilani, Rajasthan and is looking to build a temple in Pune.<ref name="Forbes philanthropy" />

==Positions==
Apart from being the Director board member of most of the Aditya Birla Group companies, Rajashree Birla also holds or has held various other posts of importance.
* Chairperson of the Advisory Board – University of Kanchipuram<ref name="Profile" />
*Chairperson - Advisory Committee - Habitat for Humanity India Trust
* Member of the Advisory Board – The Research Society for the Care, Treatment and Training of Children in Need of Special Care, Mumbai<ref name="Profile" />
* Trustee – Population First, India<ref name="Profile" />
* Trustee – [[BAIF Development Research Foundation]], Pune<ref name="Profile" />
* Member – [[Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam]] Development Advisory Council<ref name="Profile" />
* Member of the Executive Committee – Gandhi Smriti – 2003–06<ref name="Profile" />
* Member of the Executive Committee – Darshan Smriti – 2003–06<ref name="Profile" />
* President – Sangeet Kala Kendra<ref name="Profile" />
* Trustee – Anand Ashram Trust, Mumbai<ref name="Profile" />
* Trustee – Jayashree Charity (1962) Trust, Kolkata<ref name="Profile" />
* Trustee – [[Breach Candy Hospital|Breach Candy Hospital and Research Centre]], Mumbai<ref name="Profile" />

She is also the trustee of many foundations related to her family such as [[G. D. Birla]] Medical Research and Education Foundation, Vasavadatta Foundation, Neerja Foundation, Rajashree Foundation, Aditya Birla Foundation and [[Aditya Vikram Birla]] Memorial Trust.<ref name="Profile" />

==Awards and recognitions==
* [[Padma Bhushan]] – 2011<ref name="Padma announcement" />
* Women Achievers' Award – Archana Trust, Mumbai – 2001–02<ref name="Profile" />
* Corporate Citizen of the Year – [[The Economic Times]] – 2001–02<ref name="Profile" />
* Seva Shiromani Award – Rotarians in Action – 2003<ref name="Profile" />
* Citizen of Bombay Award – Rotary Club of Bombay – 2003<ref name="Profile" />
* The Pride of India Award – Rotary Club of Mulund – 2004<ref name="Profile" />
* Women of the Decade Award – [[ASSOCHAM]]'s Ladies League – 2004<ref name="ALL Ladies League">{{cite web | url=https://twitter.com/AdityaBirlaGrp/status/419375785204404224 | title=ALL Ladies League| access-date=12 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="ALL Ladies League2">{{cite web | url=http://www.afternoondc.in/city-news/women-of-the-decade/article_99847 | title=ALL Ladies League | access-date=12 August 2014}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Kumar Mangalam Birla]]

==References==
{{reflist|50em|refs=}}

==External links==
* {{cite web | url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/a16cbc34-54fa-11e2-a220-00144feab49a.html#axzz3A94iA06U | title=FT | access-date=12 August 2014}}
* {{cite web | url=http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/book-review/storyoneindias-prominent-business-families-_267930.html | title=Family history |publisher=Money Control | access-date=12 August 2014}}
* {{cite web | url=http://www.baif.org.in/pdf/Rajashree_Birla.pdf | title=Baif |publisher=[[BAIF Development Research Foundation]] | access-date=12 August 2014}}
* {{YouTube |icWA_tpVDDs | India Inc with Rajashree Birla}}
* {{YouTube |4I0motbfy2c | ADDRESS BY SMT.RAJASHREE BIRLA, DIRECTOR, ADITYA BIRLA GROUP}}
* {{cite web | url=http://vimeo.com/42226561 | title=Rotary – video | date=15 May 2012 |publisher=[[Rotary Club|Rotary Convention]]| access-date=12 August 2014}}

{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 2010–19}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birla, Rajashree}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in social work]]
[[Category:Indian philanthropists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Madurai]]
[[Category:Loreto College, Kolkata alumni]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian businesspeople]]
[[Category:Social workers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian educators]]
[[Category:Women educators from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Social workers from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Indian women philanthropists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women]]
[[Category:Educators from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:20th-century women educators]]
[[Category:Birla family]]

Rajashree Birla - Revision history

All Singers Music Production: adjust details as per guidelines and added references

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