Having been an active participant in the management of Sugal & Damani group I thought it appropriate that I should step aside and allow the younger generation to take over the reigns and manage the show. Even though I am not participating in the nuts and bolts of the business I keep a watchful eye on the way the succeeding generation is accepting the responsibilities only coming with a piece of advice when asked for. To my great satisfaction and pleasant surprise I find that the relatively younger group at the helm of the business are proving equal to the task and I have no doubt at all that in the years to come they will do as good job as I have been doing, but in some areas would even be doing better. I have given myself the glorious title of Mentor yielding myself to the luxury of leisure.

Let me confine myself to the areas which broadly fall under the umbrella of corporate social responsibilities and leave the details of the business aspects to my younger friends in the Sugal & Damani Group.

Having said that I cannot restrain myself from briefly touching on what our Group is doing in the field of the business. Apart from our major involvements in lotteries, we have a few businesses which are run successfully by the various participants of the Sugal & Damani group. These include the Jewellery business in Chennai engaged solely in delaing with diamonds; the Travel and Tourism business located in Chennai and Bangalore; the Real Estate business at Chennai being looked after by one of the partners; the Stock and Share business which has taken giant steps in a relatively short time after being started.
Of course, lottery has been the flagship business of the Sugal & Damani group and we have fine tuned various aspects of the business over the years, starting from the paper lotteries to assist a few States in India to garner additional resources for welfare activities, the Group has now launched a variety of computer lotteries and have also ventured into foreign countries enabling the Governments of these States abroad to gather the resources to meet their own needs. Our attempt to participate in the bidding process for the UK National Lottery, though unsuccessful, is a feather in our cap as we were one of the two final bidders and have every hope of the being runner sooner rather than later.

Through certain Trusts located in Chennai we have taken up social service in a significant manner. The Singhvi Charitable trust helps the visually handicapped by providing treatment for eye diseases through camps held in rural areas of Tamil Nadu, which has been found a place in Limca Book of Records in the year 2009. Needless to add that all the services including the provision of spectacles are rendered totally free. This is done through the Singhvi Charitable Trust.

All of us are aware that there are a large number of individuals and institutions engaged in serving their fellowmen without any consideration of reward. We felt it necessary that their services should be identified, nurtured and focused upon, so that more and more people take up these social services. This idea had given shape to the Bhagwan Mahaveer Foundation set up in the year 1994 which provides four Annual Awards for services of excellent standards specially to the weaker sections of the community. The awards are meant for such services in the fields of

1. Non-violence & Vegetarianism
2. Education
3. Medicine
4. Community and social service

The awards carry a cash component of Rs.10 Lacs each and are made on the basis of nominations received from all over the country. These nominations are evaluated and decided upon by an eminent Jury headed at present by Justice Sri M N Venkatachaliah and other eminent persons. So far we have 35 such Awards to individuals and institutions spread throughout the country.

This apart we have the Jainsindia Trust established in Chennai providing monetary assistance in the form of scholarships to students belonging to the Jain community for helping them to continue their studies in professional colleges and other educational institutions.

We also run three educational institutions, one of which provides education upto Matriculation Hr. Sec. standard and the other two offering nursery classes. These institutions have basic well equipped infrastructure and offer quality education at modest rates.

The partners of the group are also associated with the running of an Engineering College at Vellore, a place close to Chennai which offers a number of popular engineering courses.

The latest jewel in our armoury is the setting up of Empathy Foundation at Mumbai which also provides assistance to the visually handicapped through eye camps where patients are provided spectacles free. The Foundation undertakes construction and renovation of school buildings in Maharashtra, so that the children in these villages are provided the basic requirement of education through reasonably furnished schools close to their residences.

The Foundation has adopted One village has provided necessary infrastructure such as Solar Lights, Potable water and school building. Construction of houses is under consideration. Efforts are on for the economic upliftment of the village people. The Foundation works in close co-operation with representatives of the local people through whom grassroots needs of the villages are ascertained and satisfied to the maximum extent possible. So far the Foundation has spent 8,19,47,677/- in reconstructing / renovating school buildings and has provided scholarship to1297 students and has disbursed Rs. 52,21,434/- on this account.

However well intentioned a single individual or an institution may be, you will agree that the need for basic services particularly in the field of education and health is so immense that whatever the individual or institution does will only be a drop the ocean. The Sugal & Damani Group invites all the like minded people and institutions to join hands with us, so that by participating in this noble endeavour we can leave a better India for the succeeding generations of people.