Saying no to placement
Vinayak Lohani’s story turns the usual idea of career success on its head. According to his official Padma citation, he was born on 12 April 1978, took a B.Tech from IIT Kharagpur in 2000 and an MBA from IIM Calcutta in 2003.
Leaving IIM, he did not take the well-paid placement route. Inspired by Swami Vivekananda’s ideal of selfless service, he started Parivaar in 2003 in a small rented building on the outskirts of Kolkata, with just three children.
Paying with lectures
At first there was no money. His citation and Parivaar’s records say he met early costs by lecturing to students preparing for management entrance exams. By the end of 2004 the organisation had bought land for a permanent campus.
As of January 2024, an official snapshot records more than 2,100 resident children in its Bengal institutions. The model is not just shelter, but long-term care, formal education and support into adulthood.
A system, not a single home
After 2016 Parivaar expanded into tribal and rural Madhya Pradesh. According to the citation’s snapshot of 10 February 2025, 834 Seva Kutirs were giving nutrition and education support to more than 55,000 children, and about 1,350 children lived in four residential institutions. Its health work includes 93 free 24x7 ambulances, eye camps and surgeries, and 21 mobile medical clinics.
The key insight is not scale but design: one person’s small experiment grew, with many hands, into a joined-up system of education, food, emergency transport, eye care and primary health.
Sources
- Padma Awards 2025: official citation
- Parivaar: founder and history
- IIM Calcutta: profile
- PIB: Padma Shri conferral, 28 April 2025
- padmaawards.gov.in/Document/pdf/CitationsForTickets/2025/2025139.pdf
- parivaar.org/about/founder/
- application.iimcal.ac.in/vinayak-lohani
- pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2125088