Some heroes opt to remain unsung by design

Arvind Kumar

Some heroes opt to remain unsung by design, rather than due to any other factor to the contrary. For example, as many as seven private donors in Uttar Pradesh have sent anonymous demand drafts totalling Rs.30.6 lakh to the UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s office towards the Relief Fund meant for the Uttarakhand flood victims. The CM’s office in Lucknow received a bank demand draft from Kannauj, a city famed for producing scented oils and perfumes, amounting to Rs. 5 lakh on July 8; on the same day, another anonymous demand draft was received from Jawahar Bhavan in Lucknow for Rs.3.55 lakh. On July 29 other anonymous bank draft worth Rs. 1 lakh from Muzaffarnagar was received. On July 26, three more anonymous bank drafts were received for Rs 51,000 from Rajnagar in Ghaziabad, Rs 40,000 from Padrauna in distt. Kushinagar, and Rs 23,000 which does not mention even the place from where it was despatched. The anonymous bank draft donating the largest amount was for Rs 19.96 lakh received by the CM’s office on July 16.

An official in the CM’s office said, while sending bank drafts donors generally attached a covering letter containing their names, addresses and income tax details; sometimes they mention all this outside on the envelope itself. Thereafter, the CM’s office sends letters of receipts of these donations to the donors meant to be used to avail rebate in their income tax returns under Section 80G of Income Tax Act with a deadline extending to August 5. However, in these cases of anonymous bank drafts, the officials do not know whom to send the donation receipts. Many of the anonymous bank drafts have been foisted in the CM AkhileshYadav’s own hands, and the officials cannot ask Akhilesh for the donors’s details. The CM office has already deposited these anonymous bank drafts in the CM’s official bank account to get the amounts transferred to the CM’s Relief Fund. The official said, “We’re sending letters of receipt of donations to the banks from where these banks demand drafts were made…we hope the banks concerned have the donors’ addresses.”

The quality of heroes, however, keeps changing from place to place across India. In Mysore, the heroic donors to Uttarakhand flood victims were the sportspersons, who performed to the hilt and drew applause from far and wide. In fact on July 14, they had planned to felicitate Mysore district-in-charge and the state Revenue Minister V Srinivas Prasad, Chamaraja MLA Vasu and Melukote MLA Puttannaiah for rendering yeoman’s service to the sports persons and sports associations,  at the Senate Hall at Manasaganggothri in Mysore. However, at the last moment, the organisers decided not to squander the money on felicitation programme, instead diverted the entire amount of Rs 2 lakh to the Prime Minister’s relief fund for Uttarakhand flood victims.

The move drew standing ovation from the minister and both the MLAs. Moreover, a donation box was kept at the venue to collect donations for the relief work in Uttarakhand, and Vice Chancellor University of Mysore KS Rangappa was seen pushing some crisp currency notes into the donation box.