Amitabh Bachchan to give Rs 2.5 crore to families of martyrs, farmers

Mumbai: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan today said he would be donating Rs 1 crore to the families of martyrs and an additional Rs 1.5 crore to waive off loans of farmers. The 75-year-old actor said he wanted to do something for the families of martyrs. 

"Just yesterday, we got a list of 44 families from the government. We have prepared 112 demand drafts to the value of Rs 1 crore to take care of the families," Bachchan told reporters here. 

"There is a system in the government. Sixty per cent of the amount has to go to the wife, twenty per cent to the father and twenty per cent to the mother... Like this, we have divided the amount for 44 families of martyrs," he added. 

The actor said he was also pained by the farmers' suicide and has decided to pitch in.

"I have always been bothered by reading about farmers' suicides. Many years ago, I was shooting in Vizag and read that farmers who had loaned Rs 15,000, Rs 20,000 or Rs 30,000 and couldn't pay back and were committing suicide... I came back and paid for 40-50 families...

"This time I am paying Rs 1.25 crore to 200 farmers' families. I went to my bank and we got a list of all the farmers' loans and there were 200 loans and that's what I am paying off," he added. 

Bachchan was speaking at the press conference of "Kaun Banega Crorepati" season 10 here today.