An alms seeker from Madurai has won hearts by donating ₹90,000 towards the COVID-19 relief fund. Poolpandiyan, a 68-year-old alms seeker donated his life savings to the Chief Minister’s relief fund for the coronavirus pandemic. He contributed this in nine instalments and has been contributing since May. He is a native of Thoothukudi and had taken to seeking alms after his sons had ousted him out of their houses.
The District Collector wanted to honour him during the Independence Day, but he could not be traced. He was later identified and honoured with the title of a social worker by Collector T G Vijayan. “I am happy that the District Collector has given me the title of a social worker,” the alms seeker told the news agency ANI. “I would have given this money to the education fund but now donated it to relief fund as #COVID issue is big,” he added. As many as 5,890 fresh COVID-19 positive cases were reported in the state on August 17 with 120 deaths, pushing the tally to 3, 43, 945.
Similarly, in June, a 12-year-old girl from Noida’s Uttar Pradesh broke her piggy bank to pay ₹48,000 for the air tickets of three workers from Jharkhand. Chief Minister of Jharkhand Hemant Soren appreciated the girl’s kindness and her sensitivity to the needs of others.
#TamilNadu: Mr Poolpandi, an alms-seeker in Madurai has donated Rs 90,000 to the government welfare fund in nine installments since the #lockdown began. The District Collector wanted to honour him during the Independence Day, but he could not be traced.#AIRVideo: Raghuraja pic.twitter.com/JVKQsEjZ7w
— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) August 18, 2020