Ranbaxy,Badals nurture own ‘turfs’,Nanhi Chhaan drying up in Punjab
It aimed to achieve the twin objectives of saving the girl child and saving the environment.
It aimed to achieve the twin objectives of saving the girl child and saving the environment. But four years after it took roots from poor-sex ratio Punjab,the Nanhi Chhaan project is drying up as the corporate group and state’s first family have since parted ways.
The movement was conceived by then Ranbaxy chairman Harpal Singh and spearheaded by Harsimrat Badal,wife of Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal. Together they launched it on August 27,2008,from the Golden Temple in Amritsar in collaboration with the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC),which was to distribute saplings as ‘buta prasad’ to devotees in honour of the girl child,from places of religious worship.
In October the same year,the buta prasad was started in another holy shrine,Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda,the district which in 2009 elected the Badal bahu as its Member of Parliament. In March 2009,Harpal Singh was elected CII north head.
Ranbaxy’s Nanhi Chhaan Foundation was quick to spread its wings outside Punjab in Haryana,Delhi,Rajasthan,Tamil Nadu,Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Owing to differences,Harsimrat started her own Nanhi Chhaan Trust but its activities have remained confined to her constituency,Bathinda. For buta prasad,the SGPC was asked to buy saplings raised by the forest department in its nurseries at the rate of Rs 5 per plant.
Last year,the SGPC bought 4.5 lakh plants from the forest department to be distributed from five gurdwaras – Golden Temple,Talwandi Sabo,Fatehgarh Sahib,Anandpur Sahib and Ludhiana. However,this year,both the orders for the plants and payments by SGPC have been sporadic. The project has come to a standstill in these gurdwaras barring Amritsar,where a total of 60,000 plants have been supplied this fiscal.
Harsimrat’s Nanhi Chhaan Trust blames shortage of funds for the problem. “The charitable trust was formed to carry on Nanhi Chhaan in Punjab after some differences cropped up with Ranbaxy,which started the project more as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative before Harpal Singh became the CII (north) head. But not much work was happening at the grassroots level. Hailing from the first family and being its earlier brand ambassador,Harsimrat felt she could not abandon the campaign,” says Delhi-based Chanchal Kaushik,who runs the Trust. For funding the Trust’s other activities,Kaushik says the Bathinda MP is donating her salary besides seeking donations from friends.
While steering clear from replying on its differences with Badal,Nanhi Chhaan Foundation of Ranbaxy group in its email reply said a founding principle of the Foundation was to motivate and propel action around the themes. “It is our constant endeavour to assist and help whoever seeks our assistance in whatever way we can. We are equally encouraged by the independent actions of individuals and institutions who choose to work in this arena be it related to policy,advocacy or programmes,” it added.
On its work in Punjab,the foundation said launches have been held from schools,colleges,industry and industry associations like the CII,hospitals and villages.
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