CHENNAI: When S Dinesh Babu came across Ambiga, a 58-year-old widow from Kansalpettai in Vellore city, he could not fathom how the woman made ends meet with a monthly income of just Rs 600.
A domestic help whose drunkard son has never offered any support, Ambiga weathered life and the elements in a damaged hut whose thatched roof was lying in disrepair for more than a year.
Babu, a 31-year-old software analyst based in Chennai, helped Ambiga construct a new hut at a cost of Rs 23,000. He now plans to help Ambiga have a regular income by setting up a petty shop for her.
Widely known as Dinesh Saravanan, Babu, a native of Rangapuram in Vellore, has been helping the needy for six years now. Volunteers in Vellore say Babu took to social work after his elder brother, S Saravanan, died in a two-wheeler accident in 2014. During the lockdown, he has helped more than 5,000 impoverished families after getting financial assistance from well-wishers.
“Ever since the lockdown was imposed, we distributed provisions to 3,050 families. We provided breakfast and lunch to more than 50 families quarantined at Kagithapattarai corporation school for more than 90 days,” said Babu.
“We distributed kabasura kudineer to more than 10,000 people in Vellore city and printed and distributed 1,00,000 copies of Covid-19 awareness pamphlets. We had handed over face masks and gloves to 540 sanitary workers in Vellore.”
Before the lockdown, Babu had distributed 20,500 saplings and had planted 25,000 palm seeds. He got desilted a pond and helped a widow build a toilet in her house. His work earned him accolades from the Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami who appreciated Babu on Twitter on April 25.
Babu, who added Saravanan to his name after his elder brother passed away, said: “I was born in a humble family. We sold milk and other dairy products from home. It was because of the efforts my elder brother Saravanan that I and three of my siblings could pursue higher education.”
A domestic help whose drunkard son has never offered any support, Ambiga weathered life and the elements in a damaged hut whose thatched roof was lying in disrepair for more than a year.
Babu, a 31-year-old software analyst based in Chennai, helped Ambiga construct a new hut at a cost of Rs 23,000. He now plans to help Ambiga have a regular income by setting up a petty shop for her.
Widely known as Dinesh Saravanan, Babu, a native of Rangapuram in Vellore, has been helping the needy for six years now. Volunteers in Vellore say Babu took to social work after his elder brother, S Saravanan, died in a two-wheeler accident in 2014. During the lockdown, he has helped more than 5,000 impoverished families after getting financial assistance from well-wishers.
“Ever since the lockdown was imposed, we distributed provisions to 3,050 families. We provided breakfast and lunch to more than 50 families quarantined at Kagithapattarai corporation school for more than 90 days,” said Babu.
“We distributed kabasura kudineer to more than 10,000 people in Vellore city and printed and distributed 1,00,000 copies of Covid-19 awareness pamphlets. We had handed over face masks and gloves to 540 sanitary workers in Vellore.”
Before the lockdown, Babu had distributed 20,500 saplings and had planted 25,000 palm seeds. He got desilted a pond and helped a widow build a toilet in her house. His work earned him accolades from the Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami who appreciated Babu on Twitter on April 25.
Babu, who added Saravanan to his name after his elder brother passed away, said: “I was born in a humble family. We sold milk and other dairy products from home. It was because of the efforts my elder brother Saravanan that I and three of my siblings could pursue higher education.”
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