Japanese envoy donates Rs 45 lakh

CHENNAI: In a touching gesture, the Consul-General of Japan at Chennai Masanori Nakano, appeared amid destitute old men and women at a nondescript hamlet called Vilvarayanallur near Madurantakam, some 65-km from Kancheepuram on Thursday to dedicate a new building to them. Nakano was accompanied by Keiko Kotani, Economic Development Researcher, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan, and Kayoko Furukawa, Consul, Consulate-General of Japan at Chennai.The Japanese government had donated Rs 45 lakh to build a home for the aged and a daycare centre at the underdeveloped village, and the Consul-General was present to dedicate the 7,350 sq ft building comprising 13 rooms that can accommodate 50 senior citizens. As many as 30 senior citizens who are drawn from the nearby villages started a new lease of an honorable life in the new two-storey structure that also houses a daycare centre planned to accommodate about 100 senior citizens.Inaugurating the new building, Masanori Nakano said he was happy to have played a role in helping the poor. “My own country is fast recovering from the shock, but after every tragedy we emerge stronger than ever, and hence, we know what pain is all about,” he said, referring to the massive earthquake and the devastating Tsunami on March 11. Run by the Duraisamy General Social Education Association (DGSEA), the home for the aged had been functioning from a dilapidated, tiled structure for well over three decades, and has now moved to a new structure under the GGP (Grant Assistance for Grassroots Projects) Scheme of the people and government of Japan, said the Consul General.DGSEA is also fulfilling the school’s needs like uniforms, fees and food for 42 destitute students studying from Classes 1 to 10 at the nearby V Krishnamurthy Secondary School. Two outstanding students of the school — N Divakaran and M Dhakshayini — were presented with a purse of Rs 10,000 each. The institution is also running two creche units to take care of children of working women, and a Corporation Bank-run ATM for the benefit of the uneducated rural women who operate on a biometric system.