Kottayam: The land he owns could be measured in acres or hectares, but one needs to find out some new units to measure the size of his heart. Aziz Badayil, a politician in Mundakkayam of Kerala's Kottayam district, is giving new meanings to charity with his decision to donate over 1 acre of land to 35 families.
Aziz Badayil, the Kottayam district president of the Indian Union Muslim League, and his wife Sunitha are extending a hand of help to the needy as part of his two children's marriages.
Their son Dr Naveed and daughter Naziya are getting married in September.
Aziz, a planter who also owns a fuel pump, will be registering 3.8 cents of land each in the name of the select landless families in August. Aziz fixed the size of the plot after learning that those with less than 4 cents of land are eligible for Rs 1.8 lakh from the central government and Rs 1.2 lakh from the state for constructing a house.
Each plot would cost around Rs 3 lakh as per local land prices. The property being given away for free was bought by Aziz using his hard-earned money.
Aziz told Onmanorama that for long he and his wife had been thinking that something good should be done for society as part of his children's wedding. “First we were planning to marry off two girls from poor families along with our children's marriage. Later, after finding the plight of many homeless families around, we thought we should do something more,” Aziz said.
A devout Muslim, Aziz and his family believe in the Islamic teaching that charity will save one from dangers.
He found the beneficiaries, belonging to various faiths, with the help of panchayat members and different community leaders. He had also discussed the plan with Pathanamthitta MP Anto Antony.
“We were expecting only some 10 or 15 applications, but we got 120. Then we went to each applicant's places individually and tried to understand their situations in detail. We believe that we have chosen the most deserved families,” he said.
Asked if his family members were in support of his decision, Aziz said his son and daughter actually wanted to help more people.
Aziz's son Dr Naveed, a house surgeon in Mengaluru, will be getting married to Ashika, daughter of Kasaragod native Dr Ameer Ali, while Dr Naziya, who is doing house surgency at Kolenchery Medical College, will be getting married to Pathanapuram native Fisam, an engineer.
The plot identified for distribution is 450 metres off the main road at Koottickal near Mundakkayam. Aziz said the authorities concerned have promised to concrete the road to the plot once the new owners start construction of their houses there. Aziz has already laid a road through the plot so as to make it accessible to all 35 families.
The distribution of plots will be held through a lucky draw in order to avoid complaints that someone was preferred over another while allotting the plots near the main road.
