Sairam Bhat, who built houses for poor in Kerala's Badiadka panchayat, passes away at 84

For the past six months, Bhat - a farmer by profession and traditional medical practitioner by descent - was not keeping well, and his son was in charge of the clinic.
Sairam Bhat (Photo| EPS)
Sairam Bhat (Photo| EPS)

KASARAGOD: Sairam Bhat, who made houses for the homeless and created livelihood opportunities for the poor, passed away at 84. Bhat, arguably the most revered and loved person in Badiadka panchayat, died in his sleep around 11:30 am on Saturday, said his son and panchayat member KN Krishna Bhat. He is survived by his son, and two daughters B Shyamala and B Vasanthi.

For the past six months, Bhat - a farmer by profession and traditional medical practitioner by descent - was not keeping well, and his son was in charge of the clinic. Yet, he did not give up making houses for the poor. "His last house was built for a laundryman at Perdala two months ago," said his son.

Sairam Bhat pitched in with Rs 2.1 lakh because the government could not help the laundryman because of some technicality. Little wonder the then chief minister Oommen Chandy called Sairam Bhat 'an asset of the government'.To date, Bhat helped build 265 houses for the homeless, said Krishna Bhat.

Sairam Bhat was born Gopalakrishna Bhat to Krishna Bhat and Dhukshamma at Kilingar on July 8, 1937. "The name Sairam was given by the people because our family owned a passenger bus named 'Sairam Motors' in the mid-1980s," said his son Krishna Bhat.

Bhat’s journey of helping the poor started by cutting short another "important yatra" in 1995. He had been setting aside money to go to Kashi on turning 58.

That was when the shack of Kuntynana, a poor labourer and his neighbour, was destroyed in a storm. Sairam Bhat used the money saved up for his Kashi yatra to build a house for Kuntynana. "After that, I never felt the need to go to Kashi again," he told The New Indian Express in January 2015.

The word spread fast, and people started approaching him for houses. He had only one condition: that the beneficiary should have at least five cents of land. Asiya Muhammed (47), a single mother, remembered how Sairam Bhat kept a sewing machine as a surprise gift in the house he built for her at Majirpalakatta in Badiadka.

He has helped build houses for beneficiaries in Manjeshwar, Poinachi, Kumbadaje, Paivalike, Kunjar, and in his own ward, Kilingar. He has also gifted around 300 sewing machines and many autorickshaws to women and men, set up 14 drinking water projects, sponsored weddings, and electrified 100 houses.

He stopped gifting autorickshaws after he came to know the beneficiaries were selling them off. "I feel gut-wrenching pain when I hear they sold off the auto," he had said but quickly remembered one Abdul Rahman who was the "busiest auto driver in Badiadka".

He rarely remembered his beneficiaries. But Rahman, a daily wage labourer in Kunjar, was special to him. Usually, beneficiaries approached him. But in Rahman’s case, he went to him. He saw Rahman sharing his leaking shack with seven children. Bhat built a house for Rahman and gifted him an autorickshaw.

Bhat also ran a medical camp near his house, 'Sai Mandir' every Saturday. Six doctors, including eye specialists, general physicians, and Ayurveda practitioners, attend the camp. The consultations and medicines are given to patients free of cost. Bhat did not take donations for his work.

He earned his money from a 17-acre farm and led an ascetic life so that all the money could be used for helping the poor. Knowing his generosity, temple and mosque committee members used to approach him for donations. "But I don't give them any," he had told this reporter seven years ago.

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