Our History
The people of Tamil Nadu are proud of Mr. U. Sagayam I.A.S., who is immensely popular for his honesty of high standard and down to earth approach to common man, a rare breed in Indian bureaucracy these days. Mr. Sagayam is overwhelmingly admired for his courageous action bringing to fore many scam involving loss of thousands of crores to Government. But, little is known that this legendary officer who is tough against corruption and injustice, in fact has a melting heart towards the poor and vulnerable. The Nambikkai Illam which he has founded in Namakkal as District Collector is a clinching evidence to prove these pleasing traits of Mr. Sagayam.
The Beginning
While serving as the District Collector in Namakkal District, he came across two young children Bharathi and Narayana Das, who were orphaned and sheltered by a friend of their parents. The sudden death of their parents and the plight of these children orphaned at a tender age touched Mr. Sagayam. Saddened, he started a shelter forthwith for these helpless children which later turned out to be “Nambikkai Illam - A dream home for the orphaned children”.
This home was started with these two children in a humble tiled house at Porasapalayam near Namakkal on 7-12-2009. This chosen location was in close proximity to Collector’s Bangalow and Collector’s Office at Namakkal clearly facilitating very close monitoring and caring by the then District Collector Mr. U. Sagayam during its inception. In fact, the gas cylinder from the collector’s bungalow was initially extended to the home and Mrs. Vimala Sagayam generously donated essential items like utensils, milk and food grains.
Growth and Evolution
The Home had very humble dwelling initially on rent, in its evolution it was housed in different buildings and locations over the years. Currently it is functioning in a fairly comfortable own building at Ladhuvadi , 6km from Namakkal since 2016. This building was constructed completely with the generous donations of philanthropists and common yet noble citizens of Namakkal.
The genuine compassion on the poor and vulnerable will get its reward and now the Home has grown to a level it sympathetically takes care of 23 orphaned, semi-orphaned and poor children. Initially it was for both genders. Subsequently the Home started concentrating only on the girls.