BELAGAVI: “My husband Raj Kundra and I have been taking care of the accommodation, food and needs of the children of a Belagavi based orphanage. I want to rebuild the place. The renovation could easily cost `40 lakh to `50 lakh, but it’s a start,” so said Shilpa Shetty causing a furore in many Belagavi based orphanages. The question is, which one was Mrs Kundra referring to?
Having won `10 lakh on Salman Khan’s Dus Ka Dum 3, the Bollywood actress decided to donate the amount through Shilpa Shetty Foundation (SSF) to an orphanage in Belagavi which provides shelter to about 60 HIV infected children. But, her statement has created confusion among the members of all the orphanages in Belagavi.
According to media reports from Mumbai, Shilpa announced the same recently without mentioning the name of the orphanage. Shilpa said that she holds a special place for the orphanage in her heart. “I read about this young guy who was single-handedly running the place. He had taken in children who were ostracised because they had HIV. They were not even allowed to go to school. When I read that he was providing shelter and education to these kids, I approached him and started funding the orphanage,” she said. Surprisingly, when inquired, none of the orphanages in Belagavi, especially ones providing shelter to HIV-infected children, is being funded by either Shilpa or SSF.