Donate to health, not Gods: Poonawalla

Mumbai: Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, chairman of the Poonawalla Group that includes Serum Institute of India, said that the practice of Indian billionaires donating gold and money to temples and gods are criminal waste of money, which even ‘God’ wouldn’t approve.

Instead of donating money to temples, Dr Poonawalla, while speaking at the inaugural launch of the Hurun India Philanthropy List 2013, said Indian billionaires should look at donating funds for education and health care purposes.

God doesn’t like wasteful donation

The practice of  Indian billionaires which includes donating gold and money to temples and gods are criminal waste of money, which even ‘God’ wouldn’t approve, said Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, chairman of the Poonawalla Group that includes Serum Institute of India.

Instead of donating money to temples, Dr Poonawalla suggested Indian billionaires to look at donating funds for education and health care purposes. He was speaking at the inaugural launch of Hurun India Philanthropy List 2013.

On a lighter note, without naming any individuals, he said, “Personally, I know of three billionaires who had donated gold to temples. They were punished by ‘God’ as their companies stock prices crashed steeply after that.”

Joining the discussion, Dr Huzaifa Khorakiwala, trustee and CEO of Wockhardt Foundation said that God is intelligent and bribe wont work with the Almighty. “If you offer those money to larger social causes, ‘God’ would reward you by multiplying the wealth 2-3 times which again can be deployed for philanthropic programmes.   

According to Hurun India Philanthropy List 2013, IT tycoon Azim Premji is the most generous Indian billionaire with a donation of Rs 8,000 crore followed by Shiv Nadar, founder of HCL Technologies with a contribution of Rs 3,000 crore.

Education was the most favoured philanthropic cause receiving 80 per cent of the cumulative contributions. Region-wise, South Indians were the most generous, donating  Rs 10,000 crore while Mumbai is home to most of the Hurun philanthropists with 11 individuals, followed by Bengaluru and Delhi.

Listing out the major differences in philanthropic causes undertaken by Indian billionaires and their Chinese counterparts, Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report said that billionaires in China have a tendency to contribute more to universities followed by hospitals and roads in their respective hometowns.

“In sharp contrast, Indian billionaires are generous in donating more money to schools followed by health care sectors,” he said.

In the event of any natural calamity or disasters, Hoogewerf said Chinese billionaires are quick and more generous in helping the victims and in reconstruction work.