NRI took it upon himself to provide pucca houses to poor back home

Sanjiv Kumar Bakshi

Hoshiarpur August 28

A few years ago, Virinder Parihar, an NRI who had been staying in the US for more than 25 years, returned to his homeland to look after his ancestral property – 60 acres of farmland – and a desire to serve the needy.

It all started in 2018 when he came across a family living in a shanty in Ajjowal village. The couple had four children and their elderly parents living with them. Seeing the woeful dwelling conditions stirred him and the idea of providing them with a pucca house was the by-product of what he felt that day. As a result, Parihar took up the project and had gotten the construction underway. Nothing less than a dream project for him, which he completed with the finances from his own pocket. “It was Diwali when the construction was finally completed and I handed over the house to the family as a Diwali gift. I can’t explain the overwhelming feeling when I saw the tears in their eyes and their smiling faces. It soothed my heart to no end,” says Parihar.

Soon, the word spread about his virtuous acts. After a few days, while he was lazing at his home, a woman came around with her kids and narrated her tale of woes. She was living in a pitiful shack along with her husband, who was bedridden, and they had five children. She solicited him for a pucca house. “I inquired about the family and found that the shanty in which they were dwelling was also falling to pieces. Again I took the initiative and in two months the house was handed over to them”, he recalls. While the construction of the said house was in process, another similar request had knocked on his doors and he unhesitatingly complied with.

Now, the 60-year-old is completely a humanitarian involved in the service of the society by way of providing pucca houses to the homeless. “After these three houses were handed over to these three families, I came across many requests seeking help and I took the challenge. With the help of my friends and relatives I kept going on,” he shares. This was how the dream to provide a house to a needy family turned into project ‘Home for Homeless’ — which has by now provided 26 houses to the needy families and the work is on for 27th and 28th house.

Under the project a complete house unit comprising of a living hall, a kitchen, toilet-cum-bathroom and a courtyard with interlock tiles is provided to the beneficiaries. Parihar says this is what he aspires to do for the rest of his life. “I am committed to continue with it till my last breath and have a target of providing not less than 250 houses to the homeless in Hoshiarpur. I feel that there’s no service greater than providing a roof over head to those who don’t even dare to dream of it”, a resolute Parihar says.

BOX: You always attract your likes

As Parihar shared the stories of the families helped and thanked the friends involved in the project on his social media account, the tales had turned some heads around which in turn resulted in pitching in of other helping hands. Reading about it, an NRI Manjit Singh of Salt Lake city, US, contacted him and asked for the details of the work he was doing and extended support in building of seven such houses. Then, another NRI Surinder kaur Puar from New Jersey came forward to help raise three more houses. Also, a retired IRS officer from Chandigarh, Jasjit Singh Ahluwalia, provided funds to spur ‘Project Home for the Homeless’ to raise two houses. “Several people came to help and kept contributing for the project with most of them not willing to disclose their name and the project has turned out to be the mission of my life. 26 houses are complete with a expenditure of around 45 lakh. The construction of two houses is on and five more await”, he revealed.

You always attract your likes

As Parihar shared the stories of the families helped and thanked the friends involved in the project on his social media account, the tales had turned some heads around which in turn resulted in pitching in of other helping hands. Reading about it, an NRI Manjit Singh of Salt Lake city, US, contacted him and asked for the details of the work he was doing and extended support in building seven such houses. Then, another NRI Surinder Kaur Puar from New Jersey came forward to help raise three more houses. Also, a retired IRS officer from Chandigarh, Jasjit Singh Ahluwalia, provided funds to spur ‘Project Home for the Homeless’ to raise two houses. “Several people came to help and kept contributing for the project with most of them not willing to disclose their name and the project has turned out to be the mission of my life. 26 houses are complete with a expenditure of around 45 lakh. The construction of two houses is on and five more await”, he revealed.