Rajashree Birla

Rajashree Birla is an Indian philanthropist. She is married to the late Aditya Birla (scion of the Birla family of business magnates). After her husband's death in 1995, Rajashree began working in 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.

Biography Rajashree was born in 1948 in Bikaner, in the Rajasthan state of India, and was later raised in Madurai, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Her father, Radhakishen Fomra, held a dealership agency for Burmah Shell. Her mother, Parvati Devi Fomra, was a home-maker. The family were Marwari Vaishyas and belonged to the Maheshwari sub-caste.

Rajashree and her sisters studied at St. Joseph's convent school in Madurai, 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 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.

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 1,600 crores, the Aditya Birla Group, spends on CSR activities, of which 40 crores goes for educational activities.

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 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.

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 conference in Manila, the Philippines, in 2012. The same year, she rallied a group of celebrity cricketers such as M. S. Dhoni and collected a sum of 2 million for the efforts of the organization. She has personally arranged a contribution of 100 million to the Habitat for Humanity. 25th Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award For Excellence 2024