Jagastsinghpur: Many people do philanthropy but a lawyer in this coastal district has done it with a difference. He has made Jagatsinghpur district collector the nominee for two fixed deposit accounts worth Rs 14 lakh, reported The Hindustan Times (HT).
Driven by the spirit to give back to the society, the civil lawyer Basudeb had made the district collector the nominee in two fixed deposits accounts worth Rs 2 lakh and Rs 12 lakh, owned by him and his wife, in 2016 and 2019 respectively but he revealed it only about a week ago.
“As the Covid-19 casualties increased in Odisha, I got scared and decided to let the district collector know about making him the nominee of my accounts in the event of me and my wife’s demise. I have diabetes and was worried and so I let the collector know about it through a WhatsApp message,” HT quoted 65-year-old Basudeb, a resident of Sipi village near Jagatsinghpur town of the district as saying.
District Collector Sangram Mohapatra told HT that he was surprised when he got the message from Basudeb. “I was taken aback as no one does this. I then met him and his wife. He wants the money to be used for the underprivileged and the downtrodden people in the district. This spirit of philanthropy would inspire others,” he told HT.
Basudeb said while society has given everyone a lot, it’s one’s duty to give back as much as possible. “How would the amount in my bank account help if it keeps lying there? It should be of some use to someone in the society,” he was quoted as saying in HT, adding that neither his wife Bidyutprava nor his two lawyer sons opposed his decision.
“I have tried to give both my sons, the best education. The elder one is a lawyer in Supreme Court while the younger one practices in Orissa High Court. Let them earn their own bread,” he added.
Basudeb’s younger son Bismay Stalin told HT that he was happy with his father’s decision. “I am proud to be his son,” he said.
Basudeb now plans to sell about.0.2 acres of his land and donate the proceeds to a trust, reported HT.
