Shrikant Verma Trust

Shrikant Verma Charitable Trust supports visionary leaders and organizations working on the frontlines of social change worldwide. Our goals for more than two decades have been to:

• Strengthen democratic values

• Reduce poverty and injustice

• Promote international cooperation

• Advance human achievement

A fundamental challenge facing every society is to create political, economic and social

systems that promote peace, human welfare and the sustainability of the environment on which life depends. We believe that the best way to meet this challenge is to encourage initiatives by those living and working closest to where problems are located; to promote collaboration among the nonprofit, government and business sectors; and to ensure participation by men and women from diverse communities and all levels of society. In our experience, such activities help build common understanding, enhance excellence, enable people to improve their lives and reinforce their commitment to society. We work by building knowledge base and strengthening organizations and networks and grants. Since our financial resources are modest compared with societal needs, we focus on key problem areas and program strategies. Created with gifts and bequests by Late Shrikant Verma & his philanthropist son Abhishek Verma, the Trust is an independent, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization, with its own board, and is entirely separate from the other commercial organizations of the Verma family. The trustees of the Trust set policy and delegate authority senior staff for the Trust’s grant making and operations. Program officers in the India, Asia, and Eastern Europe explore opportunities to pursue the Trust's goals, formulate strategies and recommend proposals for funding. The Trust was established on 1986, with an initial gift of US$ 10 million from Abhishek Verma whose father Late Shrikant Verma was a leading journalist before the powerful Indira Gandhi inducted him into the Indian National Congress Party and made him a member of India's Parliament in 1976. When Gandhi returned as Prime Minister in the early 1980s, the articulate Shrikant Verma became the official spokesman and later the General Secretary of the Congress Party. His job was tough but immensely challenging: it entailed holding daily briefings for journalists, brainstorming party policies and generally helping the party evolve. Besides, he found time to write several books novels, many of which have been translated into foreign languages. Shrikant Verma died at the Sloane Kettering Hospital in New York on May 25, 1986, battling cancer. Shrikant Verma's foster mother, Minimata, was a Member of Parliament for an impressive 24 years, beginning 1950, until an aircrash cut short her life. Abhishek Verma's mother and Shrikant Verma's wife, Veena Verma, served 14 years in the Parliament as a member of the Congress Party. During its early years, the Trust operated in New Delhi under the leadership of Verma family members. Since the founding charter stated that resources should be used "for scientific, educational and charitable purposes, all for the public welfare," the Trust made grants to many organizations. Entrepreneurial success allowed Abhishek Verma to undertake civic initiatives in Bilaspur, a city in Central India from where his family hails. He installed over 150 electric wells to supply the under-privileged community with abundant potable water, established medical clinics, started Mid Day Meal Schemes for school going children and through celebrity charity events raised funds for cancer treatment equipment for the local hospitals and donated funds to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund and to victims of Earthquakes and for burn victims in India through the Trust. The Trust in partnership with Nehru Bal Samiti a charitable organization for uplift of under privileged children runs 6 schools in Delhi with 4,000 students. Sonia Gandhi, President of Congress Party in India has been the Patron of this organization for several years. The Trust, led by Abhishek Verma the Chairman of the Board of Trustees remains committed to advancing human welfare. Headquartered in New Delhi, we make grants in all Indian states and, through 6 regional offices around the world, support programs in more than 10 countries. Over the years, our trustees have been drawn from India, the United States, Eastern Europe and Asia, and have brought experience in business, government, higher education, law, nonprofit management and the civic sector with a diversity of approaches and continuity of purpose.