Mangaluru: If the religious persons, political leaders and other members of the public have been discussing on the issues like construction of Ram Mandir, demolition of Babri Masjid, Supreme Court’s verdict which allows all women to enter Sabarimala temple, here is a person who shows the world what should be done if people really love ‘God.’
Roshan Belman, a resident of Belman in Karkala taluk is a musician and anchor by profession. Having experienced difficulties in his life himself, he has started a small initiative to help the poor. As he was a religious person himself, he seems to know what should be done if a person really loves God. Hence, when he started to earn in the year of 2010, he opened a separate bank account, in which he started depositing around 10 percent of his monthly income. Whenever he found time, he used to distribute this amount among the needy people.
In the year 2016, he decided to help more people. Hence, he disbursed a total of 50 coupons with a face value of Rs 2000 to 50 families and allowed them to purchase grocery and other items from a shop, located at Belman. As this noble work received wide publicity in social media, many turned up to extend their helping hand towards his work. Though he initially decided to disburse only Rs 1 Lakh through 50 coupons to 50 families irrespective of caste, colour, creed and sex, many donors came forward and donated money. Hence, an additional Rs 3 Lakh was collected. When donors started depositing more money in Roshan’s bank account, he decided to start a trust by name `Humanity` and continued his charity work through the same.
The trust was registered under the name of `Humanity` on May 17, 2017, to which his friend Merwin also extended his help. Thus, a small initiative with a big dream of helping the needy started. Though `Humanity` has completed just 18 months, it has taken up over 250 projects like construction of houses among others and donated more than Rs 1.5 Crore to the needy in different districts of Karnataka. Now `Humanity` has been awarded with `80 G`, a tax exemption benefit for its donors.
How does it work?
On receiving applications, the trust approaches the poor families, makes their videos, edits and share them on their social media accounts including YouTube. When the public approach `Humanity` extending their help, the trust acts as a channel to mobilise the aid for the needy. Roshan says the ultimate aim of `Humanity` is to help the people who are really in need.
‘Don’t quarrel in the name of `God`, but love and treat people as God’
When contacted, Roshan told Newskarnataka that one should not quarrel in the name of God but should treat, love and serve people as God. “There should be no religious violence in our country. Instead of that, we should treat all as equals and serve them without any hidden interests. I wanted to show religious people and political leaders what exactly is the meaning of social service. If they really want to change the society, they need to help the needy”, he says.
