Doctors, 91, waives rent of over 4 Lakh

Chennai: The sequel of the Coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown aftermath the outbreak have combinedly brought the economy to a standstill, leaving thousands across the nation either to lose their job or to face a pay cut and these people have been burdened with financial stress and inability to move their lives ahead amid the ailing economy. While the government aims for a revival, the nation has no surety on when things would get back to normalcy.

One of the hard-hit people is those who are staying in the rental homes or having commercials in the rented complexes as they ought to pay rent to their landlords. But Tamil Nadu has a different story to tell, a story that would inspire others at difficult times.

Unlike most of the landlords, 91-year-old Dr.T.K.Rathinam, a native of Patukottai, Tamil Nadu has asked the shop keepers at his commercial complex not to pay rent for their last three months.

Rathinam, a doctor by profession, is better known for his service even at this age as he charges only Rs 10 as his consulting fee from the patients. Now, standing from the perspective of the shop keepers, he has waived off three months rent which, if collected, would yield Rs 4.20 lakhs in total. According to the reports, Rathinam operates a clinic in his own building in his native town.

Attached to the building is a commercial complex that has six shops. These shops would pay rent of Rs 1.40 lakh every month to the doctor's family and for three months, it would come up Rs 4.20 lakh, which has now been sacrificed by the doctor as the shopkeepers didn't have any business in the wake of the lockdown. According to the doctor, they had enough for their family.

On the other side, these shopkeepers earned no income for three months, and waiving off their rent would pour huge relief for them as they are levied with huge financial stress.

The doctor's token of gesture has now eased the instabilities of the shopkeepers and their families, which shows the way of how the people who are endured with pain can be embraced.

The reports say that Dr. Rathinam, who is obstetrician, has attended over 65,000 deliveries during his service and after getting from admired on his service, his son and daughter-in-law, who are also obstetricians, are currently charging Rs 50 as a consulting fee.