Nine-Year-Old Odisha Girl Donates Her Life Savings To Cyclist On Mission ‘Save Environment’

Berhampur: Age is not a criteria to think big. Sometimes, even children show unusual maturity of thought, just as this nine-year-old from Berhampur did.

Sudipti Pradhan, a Class IV student of a private school here donated all her savings since Class I to a man who embarked on a mission to promote a noble cause. She donated the princely sum of Rs 12,151 from her piggy bank to Damodar Achary, 37, who launched a cycle expedition on Saturday. Achary, from Silk City, aims to create awareness on protection of environment and Swachh Bharat.

Sudipti flagged off his journey on Saturday. Achary, who is working as a driver at MKCG Medical College, aims to end his expedition in 25 days by covering around 2,300 km. During his tour, he will pass through the major towns of Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and finally, New Delhi, where he hopes to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Bibhuti Jena, BJP’s Ganjam district president, who came to flag off the tour, handed over the flag to the girl after he came to know about her monetary support.

“I wish him success and have donated what I had saved from the pocket money my parents gave me,” said Sudipti.

Achary will create awareness among school and college students during his expedition and ask them to plant more trees and protect the environment. “Denudation of forest cover and wanton tree felling will lead to disastrous conditions. To protect the environment, more trees need to be planted,” he said. 

Promoting Swachh Bharat is also on his agenda. He intends to talk about the bad effects of open defecation and urge people to use toilets. 

Earlier in 2003, Achary, a father of two, had cycled from Berhampur to Tirupati to create awareness on AIDS. In 2012, he toured 20 out of the 30 districts in the state and covered around 900 km to create awareness on environment protection.

While 20% of his expenditure on the tour was donated by his well wishers, he will bear the other expenses himself.