As A Philanthropist

It is not just the responsibility of the leaders in a democratic society to uphold democratic values and equal rights. As fellow humans, we must do all we can to help the needy. Dr. Shanker Adawal’s mind was firmly fixed on this issue and one fine day, in 1997, he was confronted with a situation where a group of people had been displaced from their property but were unaware of their rights. Till then, he had never been in a situation which had displayed such stark disparity between the haves and the have-nots. This brought into existence Manav Adhikar Samajik Manch (MASM), a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting the underprivileged in society.

The inception of Manav Adhikar Samajik Manch (MASM) laid the foundation of an organisation that was dedicated to supporting underprivileged people in receiving essential services like as legal aid, conducting medical camps, imparting vocational training, rehabilitation and relocation of destitute and rural entrepreneurial programs. People have access to information on disease prevention at MASM, with a separate cell dedicated to women’s health concerns.

Dr. Shanker Adawal is an independent philanthropist and does not promote or oppose any government, political ideology, economic interest, or religion. He also does not support or oppose the views of the victims whose rights he seeks to protect. He is primarily concerned with the impartial protection of human rights to empower the public, promote, reinforce, and safeguard human rights and good governance in India, and bring about change in human rights observance at the local, national, and worldwide levels. The idea is to establish a Just and Equitable Society.

As a philanthropist, his broad objective is to promote the cause of national and global integration by strengthening the efforts to recognize and protect human rights. He also aims to create legal and human rights awareness and empowerment among the general public through the provision of legal and civic education, the provision of legal aid, and conducting research and follow-up studies on human rights violations.

Dr. Adawal participates in a variety of activities related to human and legal rights. Those include lending a helping hand to those in need in the sphere of rights, particularly those who are affected by human rights violations or denials, or who have remained outside of the legal system due to their vulnerable condition. As a step in this direction he launched in Match 2004 a monthly magazine ‘Human Touch’, an organisation of MASM and since its inception, MASM has taken up a number of cases pertaining to violation of rights in different fora like the National Human Right Commission, State Human Rights Commissions, National Commission for Women, State Women Commissions, National Minorities Commission, State Minorities Commissions, State Legal Services Authorities, Crime Against Women Cell etc.