Madras University Vice-Chancellor G. Thiruvasagam (centre) receives a cheque from Universal Legal's partner Kavitha Vijay (right) and Senior Associate Sameena Chatrapathy, in Chennai on Thursday. Chitra Krishnan, HoD, French and other Foreign Languages, and P. Saravanan, Registrar of the university, are in the picture.
CHENNAI: An alumnus of the University of Madras, Rajasekar Sham, has bequeathed half of his property worth over Rs.18 crore to his alma mater.
Receiving a cheque for the final instalment of money, University Vice-Chancellor G. Thiruvasagam said that the amount would be allocated for the construction of student hostels on the Taramani campus and an indoor stadium in Chetpet in memory of Dr.Sham, who died in 2008.
This is the biggest donation the university has received from an individual, Mr. Thiruvasagam said.
A sum of Rs.14 crore would be used to construct boys and girls hostels for international students, research scholars and postgraduate students in Taramani. “The hostels would have 1,400 rooms to accommodate individual students and the construction is expected to be completed in two years,” he said.
With a 115 per cent increase in student intake this year, more hostel facilities were required, he added.
Dr. Sham, a former student of Medical Radiology, had contributed half of his property to the university and the remaining half to a U.S.-based charity. Thomas Osborne was selected as the administrator for the will by Dr. Sham. A law firm, Universal Legal, undertook the transactions of the amount and ensured that the university received it. As the university was not registered with the Internal Revenue Service of the U.S. as a non-profit organisation, the estate tax was 50 per cent. The firm was engaged in establishing the non-profit status of the university for special exemption from the tax.
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