An elderly destitute man, who had come knocking at the doors of the Collectorate with wads of demonetized notes worth ₹65,000, a fortnight ago, found help from a reader of The Hindu. The reader from Chennai, who insisted on remaining anonymous, offered to compensate the elderly man for his loss and transferred the same to the district Collector’s bank account.
On October 18, A. Chinnakannu in his seventies, arrived at the Collectorate with wads of demonetised notes he had saved up over the years by begging on the streets. Blind and destitute, Chinnakannu claimed that he had forgotten about the money or never could trace the money he had tucked away for safekeeping until now. Only that he was told that the money had no value because they were demonetised. Oblivious of demonetisation, and desperate for help, Chinnakannu was led into the Collectorate by a cobbler in his locality, with the hope of compensation.
While the administration forwarded the petition to the RBI, a Chennai reader of The Hindu, upon reading the story of Chinnakannu came to his rescue, offering to compensate him for the loss.
The 70-year-old reader reached out to The Hindu and offered to help. As soon as he was connected to the district Collector V. Jayachandra Bhanu Reddy, the benefactor transferred ₹65,000 from his own funds to the Collector’s account. “I could feel his pain. His effort of so many years was gone just like that for no fault of his. He cannot be held responsible,” said the good samaritan. “I worked in a private company, and all of a sudden if I found out that I had lost my hard work, how would I be. I could feel his grief,” he said.
“I don’t want my name in the paper. You can certainly write other details,” he said, not wanting spotlight for his act of kindness.
Collector Dr.Reddy alerted The Hindu of the transfer and stated that a cheque will be issued to Chinnakannu and an account will be opened in his name.
On Monday, Chinnakannu was once again led into the Collectorate. This time, his loin cloth and rags were covered up by a crispy white cotton dhoti and towel inside the Collectorate and he was handed over the cheque of ₹65,000.
