Who is more charitable, Shahrukh or Salman?

• An NGO called Make a Wish Foundation works for the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions and make their wishes come true. Shah Rukh Khan is a member of the board of directors of Make-A-Wish Foundation in India has been closely involved with this NGO and has consistently come to help them out whenever they have approached him. Many of these little ones wish to meet Shah Rukh Khan and the actor arranges for such kids to be driven to his house and ensures that he spends some quality time with them bringing in joy in their lives.

• The media is always hunting for an SRK quote. A Shah Rukh Khan interview sells more than anything. The actor who is quite aware of his popularity and market value used it to good effect a decade back. During the release of his film Dil To Pagal Hai, Shah Rukh used to charge Rs 5000 per interview whenever a media channel interviewed him. But before you think he exploited his fame to his benefit, let's clarify that he used the money strictly for charity purposes only. He used to take the money in the form of cheques in the favour of various NGO's.

• When Shah Rukh was working on Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas, an unfortunate incident occurred on the sets. A person who had just come to visit the sets and see the shooting, met with a tragic accident when a large fan fell on him and he died on the spot.Shah Rukh personally offered help to the deceaseds family and send them money in testing times. SRK was not responsible for the mishap in any way nor was he officially obligated to help. But out of his moral sense, the actor did come forward to do the needful.

• Some years back a reporter from a popular media channel met with an accident just after he had interviewed Shah Rukh Khan. His condition was quite critical and the hospital authorities demanded big money for his treatment since the injuries were severe. There was little time and quick money was needed for his admission.When SRK got to know about this, he immediately arranged for the money which reportedly amounted to as high as Rs One lakh per day for the treatment. Unfortunately the guy succumbed to his injuries in some days.

• Apart from regular donations to organisations and individuals, especially in the case of AIDS and cancer patients, he is behind the creation of a children's ward at the Nanavati hospital in Mumbai, in memory of his late mother(who met her demise due to Cancer)

• In February 2005, he performed at the HELP! Telethon Concert to help raise money for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake in company with other Bollywood stars and also donated INR 2.5 million for the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Tsunami Relief Fund for the tsunami-affected areas in India.

• He organised and participated in the Temptations 2005 show in New Delhi which helped to raise funds for the National Centre For Promotional of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP), a leading disabled rights group.

• The same year, he joined hands with India's Health Ministry and UNICEF for a nationwide child immunisation campaign as part of National Rural Health Mission of India. The mission which was called by economists as "the most ambitious rural health initiative ever" aimed to provide accessible, affordable and reliable health care service to the people of India residing in villages.

• In 2007, he collaborated with veteran artist M.F. Husain to create a canvas in celebration of 60 years of Indian independence at a charity auction in Bonhams, London. The painting was sold for over INR 12 million.

• In 2008, he took part in The Rock On For Humanity concert along with other Bollywood stars. The concert raised over INR 30 million for helping the children affected by the Bihar floods.

• During his 2009 appearance at the NDTV Greenathon, he adopted five villages in Bhitarkanika National Park in Kendrapara, to provide them with electricity under the solar energy harnessing project in its title initiative 'Light A Billion Lives'.The following year he adopted 8 other villages,another 11 villages in 2011 event and 12 more villages in 2012 Greenathon.

• In 2009, he committed to bear all the expenses for the treatment of two Kashmiri orphan children who suffered severe burns during a terrorist grenade attack in Srinagar. He also visited the two orphans at the hospital.

• In 2009, during his conferment ceremony of an honorary doctorate by the British Bedfordshire University, Khan pledged his dedication to further the cause of child education in India.

• In 2011, he teamed up with Amitabh Bachchan and English actress Judi Dench to promote Resul Pookutty's foundation that works to better the living conditions of the underprivileged in India. The campaign aims to spread awareness on the cause of education among the impoverished, in India and also discourages child labour in the low income bracket of society and focus on providing opportunities to let children have a proper childhood.

• Also in 2011,he was honoured with the UNESCO's Pyramide con Marni award for his charity engagements and social commitment towards providing education for kids thus becoming the first Indian to win the accolade.

• In 2011, he was appointed by The UNOPS to be the first global ambassador of the Water supply and sanitation Collaborative Council that works to improve the lives of poor people by enhancing collaboration among sector agencies and professionals around sanitation and water supply.

• During Ra.One's premiere in Dubai in October 2011, SRK along with co-stars Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal held a high-profile dinner and charity auction, which raised AED 30,000 (approximately US$8,200) for building a workshop for children with special needs.

• SRK has been brand ambassador of various governmental campaigns throughout the years, notably those of Pulse Polio immunisation campaign which was established in 1995 to eradicate poliomyelitis in India by vaccinating all children under the age of five years against the polio virus, the National AIDS Control Organisation etc to name a few.

Shah Rukh Khan is known for keeping a low profile and secrecy on his social commitments and Humanitarian work. In an interview with The Guardian he stated that his reason for keeping his charity work guarded was because of his religious beliefs. He said:

"Somewhere in the Quran it says that if you do charity for a reason, it's not charity."

He further expressed his ideology regarding charity work in an interview with CNN-IBN, stating:

"I don’t like talking about it [charity]. A lot of people and my friends always tell me I should do photographs and stuff when I meet some people. But I don’t believe in it. It is a true thing that if I believe in a cause, I should do it silently and not use my persona as an actor to advocate that."

Courtesy-Wikipedia and various news sources.Updated 5 Nov 2013 • View Upvotes