Dubai
FONTE: Trade Arabia - Manama, Bahrain - http://www.tradearabia.com/
The Dubai-based Koohiji Group has set up a private trust fund for the gifted four-year-old Indian athlete Budhia Singh, who recently captured the world’s attention by running a 65km marathon in seven hours.
The fund of up to Dh150,000 ($40,838 or Rs19 lakhs) will ensure a secure future for Budhia by providing adequate funds for his education, health and future wellbeing.
To mark the occasion, the Koohiji Group invited the running prodigy, along with his coach-cum-guardian Biranchi Das, to visit Dubai during the city’s Summer Surprises promotion. The fun trip included visits to Modhesh Fun City, where Budhia met the DSS mascot Modhesh, and the famous Ski Dubai indoor skiing slope.
Contrary to some media reports, Budhia was not in Dubai to take part in a race or conduct any opening ceremonies, a statement from the company said.
Budhia became a media sensation on May 1, 2006 when he ran non-stop from Jagannath temple, Puri to Bhubaneshwar in his home state of Orissa. He was accompanied by his coach and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) border guards who cheered him over the finish line.
The feat generated considerable controversy with some sections claiming that encouraging the boy to run long distances amounts to exploitation, while others feel Budhia is a gifted prodigy and should be encouraged to hone his talent.
“An exceptional talent like Budhia Singh’s needs to be nurtured. At the same time, he deserves to have the freedom to choose what he wants to do,” said SS Rajkumar, vice chairman and CEO of the Koohiji Group. “Whether he decides to pursue a career as an athlete or a different career path is up to him. We are providing him with the financial resources to ensure he has a good education, whether sports or academic, to achieve his full potential. If this includes winning an Olympic medal for India, so be it, but if his destiny lies elsewhere, that too is his choice. There are no preconditions attached to the fund.”
The fund will be administered in conjunction with a charity fund set up by Priyabrata Patnaik IAS, chairman and managing director of the Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Orissa, to benefit Budhia’s family and the children of the Gautam Nagar slum area where Budhia grew up.
Budhia's story has particular poignancy as his widowed mother, a former dish washer, was unable to provide for her four children and sold Budhia to a street vendor for Rs 800 (Dh63).
Bhudia came to the attention of Biranchi Das, a judo coach and the secretary of the local judo association, who has over the years helped dozens of street children from the slums to gain employment. Das only discovered Budhia’s prodigious talent for running by accident.
'Once, after he had done some mischief, I asked him to keep running till I came back,' Das told the BBC in an interview. 'I got busy in some work. When I came back after five hours, I was stunned to find him still running.'
The trustees of the fund will be the Koohiji Group, which is based in Dubai and has operations across the GCC and Iran. Rajkumar suggested: “If all private sector companies over a certain size were to adopt a worthwhile cause it would make the world a better place.”
Since it was established in 1985 the Koohiji Group has grown to have an annual turnover in excess of Dh1 billion. The company consists of four business units: Komtell LLC, dealing in telecommunications equipment; Globalnet LLC, distributors of mobile phones; Technocare LLC, which provides mobile phone maintenance services; and Royal Gulf LLC, which specializes in hi-tech air-conditioning solutions.-TradeArabia News Service
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