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This is an archive article published on November 14, 2021

Who is Malvika Sood, the philanthropist who has announced her entry into Punjab politics?

A prominent social worker in Moga town, Malvika Sood Sachar is known for her work in the education and health sectors. With her brother Sonu Sood, an actor, she runs the Sood Charity Foundation

Malvika Sood Sachar (Facebook/Malvika Sood)Malvika Sood Sachar (Facebook/Malvika Sood)

Actor Sonu Sood Sunday announced that his sister Malvika Sood Sachar will “serve people of Punjab”, enter politics and contest the 2022 Punjab polls. He added that while it was yet to be decided which political party she will contest for, it will most probably be from Moga Assembly constituency where Malvika currently lives with her family. It is also the Sood family’s native hometown.

Who is Malvika Sood Sachar?

Youngest of three siblings, Malvika Sood Sachar (38) is a prominent philanthropist in Moga town, known for her social work in the education, employment and health sectors. Her elder brother Sonu Sood is an actor-philanthropist and their eldest sister Monika Sharma, a pharmaceutical professional, is settled in the US.

Malvika and Sonu together run the Sood Charity Foundation in memory of their late parents Shakti Sagar Sood and Saroj Bala Sood who passed away in 2016 and 2007, respectively.

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Sonu Sood and Malvika at a press conference in Moga. (Express Photo)

A qualified computer engineer, Malvika runs an IELTS coaching centre in Moga and provides free English coaching to needy students. She is married to Gautam Sachar, and the couple takes care of the charity projects run by the foundation. “Currently, we are supporting the education of more than 20,000 underprivileged students across the country and also financing the surgeries of needy patients,” says Gautam Sachar, also an educationist.

During the Covid lockdown, Malvika had also organised free online classes for underprivileged students. Her father used to run a shop Bombay Cloth House in Moga’s Main Bazaar and her mother was an English lecturer at DM College in the city.

After the pandemic broke out, the siblings distributed hundreds of bicycles to needy students and labourers in Moga. Malvika also started the ‘Mera sheher, meri zimmewari’ (My city, my responsibility) campaign for Moga under the foundation.

Malvika Sood at a Moga school (Facebook/Malvika Sood)

In an interview with The Indian Express, Malvika had said that they were very proud of their Punjabi roots and the values of ‘sewa’ (serving others) were inculcated in them by their parents. “My brother helped migrants during Covid because we cannot see anyone in pain. That’s what our parents taught us and the Punjabiyat we have in us,” she said. “We miss our parents. We wish they were here to see and feel proud of what he (Sonu) is doing for those in need,” she had said.

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Sonu said his sister “always had her own journey” and will contest to serve the people of Punjab. “She is prepared to serve people of Punjab because she wants to return the love and respect people have given to our family. Moga is where we have grown up. It is our hometown, so most probably she will contest from here only,” said Sonu, addressing a press conference at Sood House in Moga on Sunday.

Sonu Sood announced his sister Malvika’s entry into politics on Sunday.

After announcing that she will enter politics, Malvika said, “We have been working prominently in health and education sectors already. Solving issues related to hospitals and schools will be my priority. It is clear that I will contest from Moga, but we are yet to take a call from which party I will contest. Our motive should be to improve the system for common people, not political party.”

Divya Goyal is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, based in Punjab. Her interest lies in exploring both news and feature stories, with an effort to reflect human interest at the heart of each piece. She writes on gender issues, education, politics, Sikh diaspora, heritage, the Partition among other subjects. She has also extensively covered issues of minority communities in Pakistan and Afghanistan. She also explores the legacy of India's partition and distinct stories from both West and East Punjab. She is a gold medalist from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi, the most revered government institute for media studies in India, from where she pursued English Journalism (Print). Her research work on “Role of micro-blogging platform Twitter in content generation in newspapers” had won accolades at IIMC. She had started her career in print journalism with Hindustan Times before switching to The Indian Express in 2012. Her investigative report in 2019 on gender disparity while treating women drug addicts in Punjab won her the Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity in 2020. She won another Laadli for her ground report on the struggle of two girls who ride a boat to reach their school in the border village of Punjab.       ... Read More

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