Amethi, Rahul Gandhi's constituency, has caught actress Pooja Bedi’s eyes. Through four days, the glamorous actor went around 10-odd villages in the district to get a closer look at the problems of the villagers. She returned to Delhi on Thursday.

The latest is that Bedi has taken the plunge into social service and chosen Amethi to launch the work of her new organisation called Grassroot Foundation. “I have been associated with charity for the past 10 years but all of us always wondered as to where all the money actually goes. I, therefore, decided to start a foundation.”

To begin with, the Foundation, Bedi said, would adopt five villages. There, it would help villagers build pucca houses, give them training for starting small industries and promote commercial farming among other things. The aim is to make “self-sustained model villages”.

Her father Kabir Bedi, director Shekhar Kapoor, entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and Mumbai-based lawyer Anil Harish are among the members of the Foundation. Harish said, “It (the Foundation) is Pooja’s brainchild. She has taken the

initiative and has brought all of us together.”

But, why did she zero in on Amethi? “We have all read about the good work done

by Rahul Gandhi in his constituency and all the trustees agreed that it would be a

good idea to start from there,” said Bedi.

“Another reason,” she said, “for selecting a place in UP is because a majority of those who migrate to Mumbai in search of work are from UP and Bihar. We want to give people a self-sustained life where their entire family resides. We will eventually spread out to the entire country.”

... contd.