HARYANA: At 43, Amit Goel has found his life’s calling in giving back. A thirteenth-generation resident of Ladwa, near Kurukshetra in Haryana, Goel has spent the last decade transforming lives by sponsoring the education of more than 400 girls. His foundation also pays for liver transplants, supports cancer patients, conducts free eye camps, and is now planning charitable dialysis centres. For Goel, it all comes down to a simple belief, “Girls bring prosperity”.
Goel was born and raised in an environment where girls were highly valued. The youngest in the family, with three elder sisters, he says, “We have been living in the same ancestral house for 200 years. Being the thirteenth generation brings responsibility. In our family, girls have always been respected, valued, and prioritised.”
That outlook, passed down from his father, who also had three sisters, shaped his convictions. Goel, founder and group managing director of KNAM Group, began his career in a bank before striking out on his own in 2009.
“I did fairly okay at first, but in 2012, the recession hit. Everything crumbled overnight. Contracts froze, orders stopped, and whatever I had built in two and a half years vanished. It was the bleakest period of my career,” he recalls. Things had become so dire that he began searching for a new job. Then life handed him a turning point.
On August 22, 2012, his fate changed. “The day my daughter was born, suddenly things started changing. The work that was stuck began to move; there was an overwhelming sense of positivity. Within four months, I had regained the level I had lost. In two years, I reached the peak of my business,” he says.
For Goel, it was no coincidence. “I took it as a blessing. Girls bring prosperity. That is when I decided I must contribute to society in whatever way I can.”
This belief became the foundation of his philanthropy. As the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign began, Goel decided to focus on girls’ education. “Why not educate people to value girls? That is how it all started,” he says.
The Smt. Krishana Goel Foundation, named after his mother, now sponsors over 400 girls from Ladwa and nearby villages, as well as the daughters of company employees.
“There is no limit. If the number goes to 800, we don’t say no. The girls are sponsored through Class XII, and if they score more than 80 percent, we continue to support them after that as well. No sincere child is ever left out,” he explains.
Two girls have already qualified as Chartered Accountants. “One of them is the daughter of a tea stall owner earning Rs 25,000 a month. He couldn’t afford her education, but we decided she would become a CA and paid for it,” he says.
Some girls have also gone on to become nurses. While the focus is on girls, the foundation helps underprivileged boys in government schools by sponsoring uniforms and books.
For the last three years, the foundation has held free eye camps. This year alone, over 250 cataract surgeries have been performed. The foundation has also funded liver transplants and sponsored treatment cycles for cancer patients.
Goel may live in Delhi now, but he returns to Ladwa every Tuesday. His parents remain closely involved in the initiatives. As he puts it simply: “Girls bring prosperity. That belief changed my life—and now, it is changing the lives of others.”