RAMANATHAPURAM: Meet the 43-year-old policeman S Subash Srinivasan, a Covid survivor, whose day starts with the collection and disposal of soiled facemasks strewn on the streets of Ramanathapuram town since May. He has collected and incinerated about 20,000 used masks so far. A head constable at the Police In-service Training Centre in Ramanathapuram, Subash has been actively involved in social activism for over a decade now.
During the Covid-19 outbreak in March, he began distributing kabasura kudineer (a herbal concoction) to residents in the town to boost thei r immunity. “It was in May that I took up the disposal of used masks, after noticing a cow chewing on one, mistaking it for fodder, on the roadside. Similarly, I witnessed a dog sniffing a soiled mask. Aware of the risks of viral transmission through used masks, I decided to take the issue into my own hands.
The improper disposal of masks can spread the Covid-19 infection to people as well as animals like dogs and goats, that come in contact with humans, as pets or as food,” Subash tells Express. In the initial months, he started collecting masks as a pastime activity, which soon turned into a serious mission after he tested positive for the virus in August. “When I was infected, I became too frail to even stand. Hit by severe fatigue, I experienced breathing difficulties and loss of taste.
Upon recovery, I was determined that, through the best of my efforts, I must prevent as many people as possible from getting infected by the deadly virus,” shares the cop, a native of Salaigramam in Sivaganga district. Wielding an eucalyptus tree stick in his gloved hands, as dawn breaks, Subash sets out to collect the masks thrown on the streets and bushes using the stick. After a two-hour-long walk, he incinerates the collected waste in a secluded spot, usually a barren land.
This has become a routine for Subash every morning and evening. He says in the last 3-4 months, the dumping of masks has increased. Every day, he now collects nearly 200-300 used masks from the roadside. The municipality conservancy workers too cannot be blamed as they are already overburdened with the work of segregating these masks that are usually mixed with other waste, even if dumped in bins, he explains. “Watching me collect the masks in the morning, a few conservancy workers made friends with me and started offering me tea.
They are overwhelmed that I help them keep the town clean,” smiles Subash. Recalling how it all began, the good Samaritan policeman says, “In 2004, while I was posted at Devipattinam, which is a tourist destination I noticed mentally-challenged persons being abandoned on roadsides by their families. Doing my bit, I arranged a barber for them to have a haircut, and would bathe them at a nearby temple and change them into fresh clothes whenever I could.
Since then, there has been no looking back for Subash. Subash usually sets aside nearly half his salary to help socially-neglected persons or to carry out works for a greater cause. He extends monetary help to a bunch of HIV-positive children for their education. And, in the last four years, he has removed nearly 150 kg of iron nails that were hammered on trees to pin advertisement boards.
Accolades and recognition
Subash was honoured with the Tamil Nadu Government’s Gallantry Award for saving the lives of a three-year-old girl who accidentally fell into a well, and the toddler’s mother, who jumped in to save her, at Devipattinam in 2013. Last year, he won the Chief Minister’s Medal of Honour for excellence in police service.
In December last year, Subash came under the spotlight when he wrote to the Director-General of Prisons, Tihar Jail in New Delhi, volunteering to execute the death sentence awarded to the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape case, after learning through media reports that the convicts could not be hanged for the want of an executioner in the jail.
He says, “I ensure that my social activism does not disrupt my job as a policeman between 10 am and 5 pm. Through these simple acts, I am able to serve society and lead a meaningful life. After all, we don’t carry any wealth with us when we perish,” he signs off.