NRI businessman sponsors marriages of 107 women

KOLLAM - Marriages of 107 women were organised here Monday by a social organisation supported by non-resident Indian (NRI) Ravi Pillai, who is considered as the largest employer of Indians in the Middle East.

Each groom was first handed a “thali” by a guest and after the knot was tied, the couple was handed a token gift of Rs.25,000.

The event, organized by the Ravi Pillai Foundation, was witnessed by hundreds of people and dignitaries here.

Union Heavy Industries Minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh and Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi, Kerala Water Resources Minister N.K. Premachandran, Education Minister M.A. Baby, Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Oommen Chandy, and state Congress president Ramesh Chennithala besides more than a dozen legislators and a few Lok Sabha members were present on the occasion.

Religious leaders and personalities from the film fraternity were also present.

Speaking on the occasion, Deshmukh said: “I will come again for such programmes.”

Kovoor Kunjumon, a ruling Left Front legislator who took part in the function, said that it was a great humanitarian gesture on the part of Pillai.

“The foundation will now provide employment to all the men abroad and if someone does not want a job, financial assistance would be provided to them to start a small business,” said Kunjumon.

“The couples were selected after a screening process which was first recommended by the local legislator. I myself recommended five and they got married today (Monday),” said Kunjumon.

The foundation also handed a cheque of Rs.1 million to noted environmentalist and poet Sugatha Kumari.

Hailing from this town, Pillai employs more than 25,000 Indians in his Nasser S Al-Hajri Corporation which is headquartered in Bahrain.

His company is engaged in construction at oil and gas refineries and petrochemical companies in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE.

A Padma Shri awardee, Pillai has also won the Pravasi Bharatiya award.