A charity set up in the UK to raise funds for a statue of Mahatma Gandhi to be installed at Parliament Square in London this year today appointed four new trustees.
Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy's UK-based entrepreneur daughter Akshata Murthy is joined by financial expert Carsten Jorgensen, former UK attorney-general Lord Peter Goldsmith and NRI hotelier Vivek Chadha, the Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust announced here.
NRI economist Meghnad Desai, the founder-chair of the trust, said the diverse backgrounds of the new trustees and their joint belief in the life and work of Mahatma Gandhi would ensure that the charity will continue to spread Gandhi's message all over the world.
"As well as the wisdom of the older members of the trust, we also need the wisdom and energy of youth. It important for us to reach out to young people and that is what we hope Akshata Murthy and Vivek Chadha will help us do," Lord Desai said.
After the Gandhi Statue is unveiled at Parliament Square in the coming months on a date yet to be confirmed, the trustees will prepare a road map for future philanthropic activities.
Akshata Murthy, who runs an investment business focused on investing in small and medium sized British companies, said, "Mahatma Gandhi forged a new path for India, in a manner that defied the norm. His view that 'in a gentle way, you can shake the world' has been adopted the world over and his lessons are as relevant today as they were more than 70 years ago".
Fellow trustee Jorgensen, the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal's 'Mittal Family Investment Office', expressed his excitement at being involved in the work of the trust and contributing to the commemoration of the life and works of Gandhi.
Lord Peter Goldsmith added, "Gandhi is one of the towering figures of recent history. It is right to commemorate his life and his wisdom in the heart of London at the birthplace of Britain's modern democracy. I am privileged to be associated with this project".
Other trustees of the charity include the Mahatma's grandson, Gopalakrishna Gandhi, and author Kishwar Desai and entrepreneur Rami Ranger.
The trust had recently achieved its goal for the Gandhi sculpture's budget target of 750,000 pounds.
Major donors to the project include Narayana Murthy and his family and Bajaj Auto chief Rahul Bajaj, who both donated 200,000 pounds each.
