MYSURU: Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday announced a Rs 5-crore grant to Shakthidhama Women Rehabilitation Centre that provides free shelter and education to 160 girls from across Karnataka.
He laid the foundation stone for a new school and inaugurated a multi-purpose building that has a dining hall and a library made by the Infosys Foundation at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore.
Shakthidhama, a brainchild of Kannada thespian Rajkumar, completed 25 years and is said to have helped over 4,000 girls from impoverished families.
Bommai thanked the late actor’s family for their work. “Everyone must seize the opportunity to support the downtrodden and to do good work when opportunity knocks on the door,” he said.
He said the children had found parents in actor Shivaraj Kumar and Geetha Shivarajkumar, who is the president of the Shakthidhama Trust, after Rajkumar and Parvathamma Rajkumar.
The contribution of the Infosys foundation, headed by Sudha Murthy, was immense, he said, expressing his gratitude for building the multipurpose block for the girls of Shakthidhama. He said the foundation was helping many institutes and organisations, not just in Karnataka, but also outside the state.
Actor Shivaraj Kumar promised to support the children and Geetha Shivarajkumar in rehabilitating girl children till his last breath. Shivarajkumar spoke about the affection his parents had towards the children and how they sourced funds in the initial years.
Geetha Shivarajkumar disclosed that the foundation will run up to Class 8 from June this year on the premises till the new block is constructed. The new school will come up on 4 acres.
Suttur Seer Shivarathri Deshikendra Swami, district minister ST Somashekar, MLAs SA Ramadas, L Nagendra, CS Niranjana and MP Pratap Simha and Kempaiah, a former IPS officer and a trustee of Shakthidhama, were present.
