Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana
The Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana is an Indian non-governmental organisation established in 1985 by Shantilal Muttha, an Indian philanthropist and property developer, in Pune, Maharashtra. The organisation primarily operates in disaster relief and social development.Activities
The BJS started its activities by campaigning for mass marriage in order to remove the financially debilitating nature of traditional wedding ceremonies; in 1989, Muttha arranged a mass marriage of over 600 couples of multiple religions. However, soon Muttha and the BJS moved to disaster relief, helping with the 1993 Latur earthquake and helping fight starvation in the tribal area of Melghat. BJS also established a school in 1995 to help educate orphans abandoned during the earthquake. Other disasters the BJS has helped fight include the 1997 Jabalpur earthquake and the 2001 Gujarat earthquake. The Paani Foundation, a non-profit organisation founded by director Aamir Khan, also partnered with BJS in 2016 to help fight drought; Khan and Muttha plan to make 5000 villages free of water scarcity every year.
