Odisha man appoints district collector as nominee of savings

A man in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district has appointed the district collector as the nominee for his savings, in an act of contributing to the society.

Although Basudev, 66, a lawyer in Jagatsinghpur town, had appointed the collector as the nominee for his fixed deposits in 2016 and 2019, he made the decision public only recently in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“A fixed deposit of ₹12 lakh has been kept in my name and another ₹2 lakh in my wife’s name. In 2016, we had decided to donate the amount for the larger cause of society. It prompted me to keep Jagatsinghpur district collector as the nominee of the fixed deposits,” said Mr. Basudev, who had dropped his surname in support of building a casteless society. He said he was susceptible to COVID-19 due to his age.

His two sons, who are also lawyers, have supported the donation.

“I always believe that while some people have access to resources and are immune to any economic upheaval, a vast majority of the population toils hard for its livelihood. People with decent earnings must pay back to the society to maintain a balance,” he said.

Mr. Basudev also decided to sell off his land in order to mobilise resources so that the money could be spent for weaker sections through a trust he founded years ago. In 2017 and 2018, he cut down the expenditure for his sons’ weddings and donated ₹50,000 to armed forces and ₹4 lakh to the trust respectively.