✦ Celebrity stories, facts and career updates. Explore F4U now →

Home › Biography › Amla Ruia

Amla Ruia biographyFeatured Biography

Image source: StarsUnfolded

Celebrities

Amla Ruia Biography: Age, Career, Family and More

F4U Editorial Desk • Updated October 5, 2026 • 3 min read

Quick Info

Date of birth1946

Age73 Years (as in 2019)

BirthplaceUttar Pradesh

ProfessionWater Activist

NationalityIndian

Marital statusWidowed

SpouseLate Ashok Ruia

FamilyChildren: Son - Atul Ruia; Daughters - Sharmila Dalmia and Kavita Khaitan

Amla Ruia Biography

Amla Ruia is an Indian water activist and educationist known for leading community-driven water harvesting projects across Rajasthan and other states. Wid

Early life and background

Amla Ashok Ruia was born in Uttar Pradesh in 1946 and is based in Mumbai. Raised in a spiritual family, she developed an early interest in social service that later found expression in community development and water conservation. Her personal life included marriage to businessman Ashok Ruia; she is now widowed and the mother of three children.

Career

Ruia’s work in water harvesting began in earnest after she encountered the dire conditions of drought-affected areas of Rajasthan in the late 1990s. Motivated to act, she established the Aakar Charitable Trust to address water scarcity by constructing check dams and other small water-harvesting structures. The trust’s first project was a check dam in Mandawar village, and over time the approach shifted from persuasion and pilot work to broader community collaboration.

Between 2000 and 2005, projects completed under the trust included the construction of nearly 200 drinking-water kunds. By the end of 2017, Aakar Charitable Trust had completed more than 200 check dams across more than 115 villages in Rajasthan. The projects follow a shared-responsibility model in which the trust typically provides 60–70 percent of resources while villagers contribute the remainder, helping ensure local ownership and maintenance.

Ruia’s activities are not confined to Rajasthan. The trust’s work has extended into other Indian states, including Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Dantewada in Chhattisgarh. In addition to water-harvesting projects, she has engaged with education-focused NGOs such as Grammangal to promote village education with particular attention to girls.

Impact and recognition

Ruia frequently describes the most meaningful outcomes of her work in terms of changed livelihoods. In areas where check dams and related structures were built, families who had not previously seen wheat cultivation began growing it, signaling a notable improvement in local agricultural productivity and economic conditions. Her projects aim to produce lasting, practical changes in rural communities by restoring water availability and enabling cultivation.

Her contributions have been acknowledged with several awards. Notable recognitions include the IIM Lucknow National Leadership Award in 2011 for community service and social upliftment, the India Eye International Human Rights Observer Achievement Award in 2018, and an NBT Utsav Award in 2019. She was also featured in a 2019 special episode of a national television program highlighting social change agents, where her conservation efforts were presented to a wider audience.

Public profile

Amla Ruia is widely known in activist circles as a prominent figure in Indian water harvesting, often referred to by sympathizers as a leading advocate for community-led water solutions. Her personal interests include reading and writing poetry; she counts the poet Maithili Sharan Gupt among her favorites and has cited Amitabh Bachchan as a favorite actor.

Family

Ruia’s husband, the late Ashok Ruia, was a businessman with family roots in Ramgarh Shekhawati, Rajasthan, which helped shape the geographic focus of some early projects. She has three children: a son, Atul Ruia, who is the managing director of Phoenix and Palladium Malls, and two daughters, Sharmila Dalmia and Kavita Khaitan.

Latest updates

By the end of 2017 the Aakar Charitable Trust had completed more than 200 check dams in over 115 villages in Rajasthan, and the organization had expanded work into several other states. Ruia continues to be recognized for her models of community participation and the tangible agricultural and economic improvements they have produced for village populations.

Editorial Review and Sources

This F4U profile is written from publicly available career and profile information, then reviewed for clarity before publication. If you spot an outdated detail about Amla Ruia, send the page URL and a reliable correction source to f4udotin@gmail.com.

Reference context: StarsUnfolded
◈

Recent Work

Aakar Charitable Trust water-harvesting projects

Construction of more than 200 check dams and nearly 200 drinking-water kunds across Rajasthan and expansion into other states; trust provides majority funding with villagers contributing the remainder.

2000-2017
Appearance on national television special

Featured in a 2019 special episode of a television program highlighting social change agents.

2019
✦

Career Highlights

  1. Founded Aakar Charitable Trust to build check dams and drinking-water kunds
  2. Built more than 200 check dams across over 115 villages in Rajasthan by 2017
  3. Expanded water-harvesting projects to Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Dantewada (Chhattisgarh)
  4. Received IIM Lucknow National Leadership Award (2011) for community service and social upliftment
  5. Received India Eye International Human Rights Observer Achievement Award (2018)
  6. Recipient of NBT Utsav Award (2019)
Reviewed by F4U Editorial Desk

F4U profile pages are prepared from public career information, checked for readability, and updated when reliable correction sources are shared with the editorial team.

?

Frequently Asked Questions

When was Amla Ruia born?

Amla Ruia was born on 1946.

What is Amla Ruia known for?

Amla Ruia is known for water Activist.

What is Amla Ruia’s marital status?

Amla Ruia's marital status is listed as Widowed.

Who is Amla Ruia married to?

Amla Ruia is publicly listed as married to Late Ashok Ruia.