TRUSTEES :

The Ashram Charitable Trust consists of three trustees including Founder & Chairman R. Sree Rama Raju, his wife Jhansi Rani and daughter Anjali.

Rudraraju Sree Rama Raju
(Srihari Raju)

Mr. Sree Rama Raju believes that before questioning what the society has given us, it is for our good to understand what we have given to the society. Humanity is his religion and helping the deprived is his prayer. He has been leading his philanthropic life with these beliefs – “When God has gifted us a life as a human being, it is our duty to constantly strive to understand and help fulfill the needs of people in the society, starting from ‘our parents who gave birth to us’, ‘our place of birth’, ‘our school and teachers’ that educated us, and the ‘people in the society’ who have helped us to achieve our goals.”

Mr. Sree Rama Raju was born in Godi Village (Allavaram Mandal), East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh on December 16th, 1954. He is the fourth son to Late Sri R. Venkata Rama Raju and Smt. Chellayamma. After finishing his schooling in various institutions across East Godavari, he graduated with his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Commerce from Osmania University, Hyderabad. Following which he worked as a Research Fellow at Osmania University for a year and a half. Coming from an agriculture based family, with a drive to work hard and become financially independent, he started a new chapter in his life by establishing a business. In 1980, he founded and established “Suraj Printers and Packagers”. Despite some challenges and setbacks, he assumed them as lessons learned and moved forward to becoming a successful and respectful businessman who led the firm profitably for 27 years. Subsequently he moved out of the printing & packaging industry, and established a logistics & warehousing business.

Mr. Raju’s financial stability gave him the confidence to fulfill his dream of serving the society, at which point he founded the Ashram Charitable Trust (ACT) with his wife and daughter in 2002 and started his philanthropic programme. Through ACT he aspired to help and establish programmes that support poor students for better education, the underprivileged and deprived for better living, and the elderly people for their peaceful life. With his desire to share the results of his hard work with the society, in 2003 he unveiled the “Jnanashram” (A home for the Aged) at Kandlakoi Village in Ranga Reddy district (AP). Furthermore, he adopted programmes in the Kandlakoi village and established facilities for clean drinking water, a health center, and a computer centre to educate rural children. Keeping up with traditional values, he also helped restore and rebuild the old village temple near Jnanashram.

At Mr.Raju’s birthplace Godi, he established a center to serve the basic village needs called “Samskara Kshetram” and started a programme of feeding the poor twice a day, with the dream that no person in his village sleeps hungry. He also established a veterinary hospital for treating cattle, provided financial support for poor students in the region. He also built an open auditorium and conference hall dedicated in memory of Late Sir Arthur Cotton at the campus of his childhood High school in Allavaram, East Godavari Dist, for the betterment of the future children.

His inspiration is “Sir Arthur Cotton”.
Around 150 years ago, the coastal districts of Krishna and Godavari in Andhra Pradesh had suffered severe drought, causing death to lakhs of humans and millions of cattle. Being an officer in charge of the area assigned by the British Govt, he was moved by the calamities in the region, and his compassionate heart led him to work relentlessly on humanitarian grounds to construct dams on the Krishna and Godavari rivers. This led to a substantial irrigation base and a successful livelihood to the people in the region, who still remember and worship him today. Mr. Sree Rama Raju believes that Sir Arthur Cotton’s work is so significant that it led his family and subsequently him to where he is today.

Mr. Raju believes that every person who has accumulated enough wealth to support themselves and their family should not be content and relaxed. They should strive every minute of their life and work hard to utilize their wealth towards the improvement of the society. To conclude, Mr. Sree Rama Raju believes in the living truth of being close to nature. He learnt the truth that no matter how high a person grows in his lifetime, he should live his life in a humble and simple manner.

R Jhansi Rani

Mrs. Jhansi Rani has been a calm and compassionate source of strength to the family. She has been a steady supporter of her husband’s philanthropic activities over the years and has played a substantial role in establishing Jnanashram. She plays a humble role at the ashram to understand and support the needs of elderly women and domestic activities at the ashram.

R Anjali

Anjali grew up in Hyderabad until she completed her graduation. She spent close to a decade studying for her Masters and working in New York. She worked in the financial services industry at several leading banks where she managed and led strategic wealth management projects across US, Europe and Asia-Pacific. She eventually decided to end her corporate career and move into the direction of non-profit initiatives with the strong support of her father. She traveled extensively in India and found her destiny in working with people at the grass root levels in India. Since her return to India, she has been working on projects focusing on adopting sustainable & organic farming practices, uplifting rural livelihoods, and empowering the woman & girl child with like-minded partners in the social entrepreneurship space. She co-founded a non-profit trust called My Choices that empowers and protects women against violence and domestic abuse in the society.

At the ashram, she has been involved in building a responsive atmosphere with the elderly and addressing their needs to help improve their daily lives. She also plays an active role in managing the ashram’s organic garden and improving the nutritional profile of the food served on campus.