Rotarian to donate $2 million to help end polio

Rotary’s efforts to eradicate polio have gotten a US$2 million boost from a Rotarian diamond and jewelry magnate.

Harshad Mehta, a native of India who is a senior partner in the Belgium-based Rosy Blue diamond and jewelry company, has pledged to donate the money to Rotary’s polio eradication efforts over the next three years.

Mehta, the largest Indian donor to The Rotary Foundation, was inspired to make the commitment after learning about the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s $100 million challenge grant for polio eradication. Rotary must match the grant dollar for dollar over a three-year period.

Foundation Trustee Chair Robert S. Scott recalls a conversation with him in December, when Mehta suddenly said, “I will give $2 million toward the match.” It was “a very exciting development and an extremely generous” commitment, says Scott.

Mehta, 60, joined the Rotary Club of Bombay Metropolitan in 1986 as a charter member. His previous contributions to The Rotary Foundation have totaled more than $1 million. Some of the money has been used to endow an Ambassadorial Scholarship that finances recipients’ studies at universities.

Mehta serves as chair of the United Arab Emirates operations of Rosy Blue, a family business that employs more than 15,000 people around the world. He’s also Armenia’s honorary consul in Mumbai and the vice chair of the Dubai Diamond Exchange. He is a past chair of the Gem and Jewelry Export Promotion Council and a past vice president of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations.

In his spare time, he enjoys reading, listening to music, walking, swimming, playing cricket, and spending time with his wife, three children, and five grandchildren.

In the final push to stop polio, Mehta urges Rotarians not to give up. “We must further strengthen our resolve as we are so close to the ultimate goal,” he says. “Any slackening at this point will result in a total loss of all the time, effort, and money put in over the past years.”