‘I am on a mission to do as much as I can to help people’

When did you start social projects in your native place? Charity begins at home. So, I started my charitable services in my native Kendrapada district. The projects are executed through Banchhanidhi Das & Srimati Devi Charitable Trust, named after my parents. The work includes scholarships for college and high school students, financial aid to cancer patients, starting an e-library with Rs 1 lakh donation, helping children with cerebral palsy, among others. I review, approve and fund all projects and the board members, who are my relatives, execute them. How do you decide upon the scholarships? We select students who are keen to study but are not financially sound. They are recommended by three to four faculty members to our trust. For 18 years, around 200 Plus II and Plus III students each have been given Rs 1,000 each annually, and 200 students from classes VI to X are given Rs 500 each. The number of students who have received scholarships may be around 10,000. Out of the recipients, 85% are girls because I feel their education is very important. I also give scholarships to my alma mater, NIT Rourkela. I have created two endowments of $25,000 each for scholarships and Rs 18 lakh endowment to reward the gold medallist in civil engineering. What are your current projects in Rayagada and Koraput? At Gunupur in Rayagada district, we supply books, notebooks, stationery, umbrellas, solar plates for lighting, utensils, blankets and woollen clothes to an orphanage worth Rs 50,000. In villages on the periphery of Damanjodi, we have provided clothes to adults and children as well as education material worth Rs 1 lakh through a non-profit organisation. When did you begin your social activities? In 1963, our high school mathematics teacher advised me and my friend to help the family of an old man who died in Kendrapada hospital. Me and my cousin organised volunteers from Kendrapada town, cremated the body and collected money from family members and relatives and sent his two daughters to their native Pattamundai by bus. I started social work in Odisha on a large scale in 1995 after I was promoted to full professorship in the US in 1993. Since how many years, have you been coming down to Odisha for social work? I have been coming to Odisha since 1976 and on each trip, I do some social work. It started on a minor scale, helping local schools in early years but started to gain momentum with larger projects from about 2000. Till date, how many students have benefitted from the scholarships and how much has been spent on it? The number of students who have received scholarships may be around 10,000. Initially, I used to spend about Rs. 5 lakh per year for all the projects done by our family trust for 10 years. But in the last 5 years, the amount has increased and reached about Rs 15 lakh last year. I have always been the major donor but my family members also donate some small amounts every year. I aspire to spend more. How do you intend to carry the work forward? I am a pragmatist. So, I am on a mission to do as much as I can before I die. I have decided to create a Rs 1.5-crore fund that will be invested by my son, Sunit Micheal Das, a computer scientist based in the US. Proceeds from the interest will be used for scholarships. I intend to ask my Indian colleagues in the US to help their native districts. Do you carry out social work in the US? In the US, I started social work around 1988. I volunteered for the National Alliance on Mental Illness from 1989, serving as secretary, vice-president, president of our Fairbanks affiliate and I still serve as a board of director. I have also set up a $7,50,000 fund at my alma mater, Brown University, Rhode Island for needy students from Asia and Africa. I also donate through the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.