E-Paper
Jharkand’s Mr India gets President’s invite
As offers of help poured in from all parts of the country, President Pratibha Patil on Friday invited Kantha Singh, 45, founder of an orphanage in Ledha village in Jharkhand’s East Singhbhum district, and the 42 children he raises by begging, to the Rashtrapati Bhavan. B Vijay Murty reports.
As offers of help poured in from all parts of the country, President Pratibha Patil on Friday invited Kantha Singh, 45, founder of an orphanage in Ledha village in Jharkhand’s East Singhbhum district, and the 42 children he raises by begging, to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Hindustan Times highlighted Singh’s story on September 10.
Archana Datta, the President’s officer on special duty, said Patil’s office would soon contact Jharkhand Governor K Sankaranarayanan to help rebuild the orphanage.
Within hours of the story being published, Hindustan Times readers wrote in with offers of help.
Navi Mumbai resident PK Sundaresan sought Singh’s contact details in order to issue a cheque. Delhi’s Vikas Kumar went a step further with a proposal to help the children on a regular basis. Sourabh Kaushik wrote in from Calgary, Canada, with a donation offer.
Faridabad resident Mukesh Jaiswal wanted to know how he could help sustain Singh’s orphanage and Arun Aggarwal from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, made a similar request in an e-mail. These are just a few of many similar requests from Hindustan Times readers.
Mini Surendran, a reader from Sahibabad, wrote that Singh’s selfless service was a gift from God.
The spontaneous outpouring of support continued on Friday with Jaya Iyer of the Nehru Memorial Teen Murti Children Centre inviting Singh and the orphaned children to Delhi for a week “to see Delhi and meet groups and institutions that could offer long-term solutions and support for the orphanage.”
