Philanthropist dies at 93

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, April 21

Having spent four decades in community service, 93-year-old Budh Singh Dhahan breathed his last at Nawanshahr on Friday.

A native of Dhahan village, falling in Banga, and hailing from the family of Gadharites, Budh Singh Dhahan had moved to Canada in 1960 but returned 19 years later to start philanthropic services around his place.

He initiated with setting up an elementary school and then a dispensary. He then mobilised the NRIs of the area for donations and set up Guru Nanak Mission Medical and Education Trust. The trust runs a 250-bed charitable hospital, a trauma centre and a 50-seat nursing college at Dhahan and adjoining Kaleran village.

Raghbir Singh, who was closely associated with him, recalls, “Babaji (as he was called) was SAD district president too and remained closely attached with Master Tara Singh. Both used to pedal to villages to organise various programmes. When he migrated to Canada, he was motivated with the way Jews performed community service there. After his five children (a son and four daughters) got settled there, he returned to his village and started welfare work.”

Raghbir shared that more than 15,000 NRIs, primarily from Canada, US, Australia and Germany, were raising funds for works in education and health pursued by him. “Unfortunately, a dispute arose in the trust at Dhahan in 2006 and he quit there. But his works did not stop. He decided to set up another charitable hospital for poor patients of the Kandi and Bet area.

With half of the NRIs still linked with him, he managed resources, bought a 20-acre land on the Garshshankar-Anandpur Sahib road and set up a 30-bedded hospital. Philanthropist SPS Oberoi has helped us set up an eye care centre in the complex,” he said.

As the family of Budh Singh is expected to arrive on Monday from Canada, cremation will be held then. Sushil Kaur, who worked as secretary with Budh Singh Dhahan, has already been named as the president of the new Guru Nanak Mission International Charitable Trust that he had formed.