A 75-year-old man from Alanginar in Sathankulam, Thoothukudi district, has donated money he saved from alms to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, taking his total contributions so far to Rs 1 crore.
The man, identified as Poolpandian, lives by seeking alms in several cities including Madurai, Tirunelveli and Nagercoil. He has been saving what he receives and says he is interested in spending it for public welfare.
According to the report, he had earlier supported schools in his area and, during the COVID-19 period, came to Madurai and handed over Rs 50,000 to the district collector. Over time, he has made donations in different districts at intervals, ranging from thousands to lakhs of rupees.
He visited Madurai on May 18 and gave Rs 10,000 to the collector during the public grievance meeting as CM relief. After a week, he returned to the same meeting and again donated Rs 10,000.
When asked how he managed to give such amounts within a week, he said news reports about his donations had encouraged more people to give him money. He added that he collected alms in markets along the Madurai–Tirunelveli–Bengaluru route over the past week and was able to contribute Rs 10,000 again.
