Pay it forward! Meet Kamal Morarka, the man redefining the art of giving back to society

Every year, at this time, the Morarka Foundation and its many different environmental and philanthropic projects welcome their mentor and chairman Kamal Morarka and update him on the progress made during the year in their different programmes in the Shekhawati region in Rajasthan.

There are meetings, detailed discussions, workshops and events to celebrate their successes. Today, the Morarka Foundation is one of the most active charitable institutions in Rajasthan, which is trying to activate grass-root change even in Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Meghalaya and Chhattisgarh through its various projects.

Headquartered in Jaipur, the foundation has more than a hundred employees to supervise the projects it is involved in. Called the MR Morarka-GDC Rural Research Foundation, named after Morarka’s father, the foundation focuses on rural poverty alleviation, environmental causes, women entrepreneurship, e-libraries and organic farming. It is one of the four major trusts that Morarka runs apart from his business and media interests and socialist politics. The new political party he has set up is already attracting thousands of members and volunteers all excited about bringing in change to India’s countryside.

Apart from that, there is also the MR Morarka Foundation, which focuses on restoring old havelis in Rajasthan, promoting literature (particularly Sanskrit and Urdu) and supporting theatre and the performing arts.

Then there is the Belabai M Morarka Charitable Trust, which runs a school in Nawalgarh with 400 students. It is essentially woman-centric and provides education and medical help to needy people, as well as cultural support. It supports and funds religious ceremonies.

It has even supported a musical show based on old Hindi film songs.

And finally, there is the Morarka Arts and Crafts Foundation that has been supporting arts and crafts projects across the nation and encouraging India’s rich heritage to survive and grow. The Jehangir Art Gallery, for instance, has gained from his support.

But behind all this is a quiet man, who never flaunts his work. While staying behind the scenes, he continues to do what he is best at: write books, espouse the socialist cause, help others and support those in need. Now, he is busy building his new political party, the Samajwadi Janata Party (Chandra Shekhar).