TIRUCHY/COIMBATORE: S Babu (36), a Grade-I constable attached with Coimbatore district (Armed Reserve) and D Nagaraj, a sub-inspector from Thiruverumbur police station are showing the way by going the extra mile and caring for people during these challenging times.
While Babu donated his one-month salary of `34,474 to the Chief Minister Covid-19 Relief Fund, Nagaraj, along with some youngsters, has been distributing food packets and essentials to destitute persons. He is also feeding nearly 200 stray dogs in the Thiruverumbur area.
What unites these two policemen from two different districts in their actions is that, this is not the first time that they are making their contributions to help the public during the pandemic. Babu, a native of Palani in Dindigul district, donated Rs 25,788 to the department to tackle the virus during last year. Nagaraj also relaunched his initiative of serving two meals a day for the destitutes along the Thiruverumbur road from Palpannai area, which he started during the 2020 complete lockdown.
When asked what prompted him to help, Babu said, “A few days ago, I went to CMCH, where I saw many people struggling for life due to the coronavirus infection. Though the government has been offering the best of treatment, we still need to contribute, to overcome the crisis. I have a lot of commitments with my monthly salary. But this is the time to help the government combat the pandemic.”
‘My small contribution to help State fight the pandemic...’
“I have a lot of commitments with my monthly salary. But this is the time to help the government combat the pandemic. Hence I have cut down my expenses. My small contribution will help the State do something better for the needy.” Speaking about the initiative, D Nagaraj told Express, “Earlier in the 2020 complete lockdown, on our routine patrolling duty, we saw several people, especially destitute struggling to get one decent meal a day. If it is a normal day, people can do something to take care of themselves but the lockdown posed a big question on their lives and livelihoods.
Therefore, we started an initiative to distribute monthly essentials for the people in need, and daily food, safety health gear for the destitute.” “At present, we are distributing lunch and dinner for 50 people. We order food from professional cooks and the menu will constantly change everyday. The food will be tasted by us before being distributed to the destitutes. As many as 27 youths volunteered to help distribute food even in the interior areas. I generally keep aside a portion of my salary to help the people,” Nagaraj added. Johnson Rajkumar, one of the volunteers, said, “We wanted to help the needy people during the pandemic.
Knowing about Nagaraj’s initiative, along with my friends, I joined him to distribute food to the destitute. Apart from this, we are also planning to organise special medical camps in the area, especially for the destitute later this week.” He added that, as a special initiative, the team is wandering around the streets of Thiruverumbur with a bucket full of home-made food to feed the hungry stray dogs. The team feeds as many as 210 stray dogs on a day.
FEEDING THE NEEDY
Nagaraj says they have been distributing lunch and dinner for 50 people. They order food from professional cooks and the menu will constantly change. The food will be tasted by them before being distributed, he adds