Khammam: Covering poor in a fabric of humanity

Khammam : Drawing inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi, a man from Madhira has been meeting a basic need of the poor and disadvantaged sections by providing clothes. Lanka Kondaiah, who works as a health supervisor at Denduru PHC in Mahira mandal, has founded the Mahatma Gandhi Free Old Clothes Centre under the auspices of his Lanka Seva Foundation.

Sharing details about his humanitarian service, he said that he founded the center in 2012 after witnessing a destitute Odisha man, who had fallen off a moving train some years ago and was in dire need of clothing. He has since provided clothes to more than 3000 low-income households. Speaking to The Hans India, Kondaiah said that during his spare time, he and his son Shyam Kumar and daughter Karuna Liyona gather old cloths from people, including sarees, jeans, shirts, T-shirts, and bed linen. Donors also drop off clothing at his house located on Azad Road in Madhira. He distributes the cloths to impoverished students, laborers, construction workers, migrant families, and adolescents without jobs. He said his services were much useful cyclonic rains or floods. His wife Sandhya, an ANM, helps sews torn clothes so they can be of use of the needy. Additionally, he is striving to protect environment by handing out cloth bags to the people. He said they are converting torn bedsheets into fabric bags for carrying groceries and veggies. He hopes this small gesture would curtail use of plastic to some extent. People benefit from his service in Khammam, Kothagudem, Nalgonda, Warangal, and a few other parts of Telangana, in addition to the Krishna region of Andhra Pradesh.

Kondaiah was honored with Mother Foundation of Hyderabad’s 2018 Best Social Worker Award in appreciation of his charitable efforts by former AP CM K Rosaiah. “We get great satisfaction from serving the impoverished people by providing them with clothes,” he continued.