THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For the past three decades, MA Khareem has been manning the traffic at the Cantonment Gate of the Secretariat. Interestingly, he is not a state government employee but a traffic warden. However, that has not stopped him from discharging his duties. And his diligence has caught the attention of former chief ministers, starting from the time K Karunakaran occupied the top post in the early ‘90s. Now, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan too acknowledges Khareem whenever his car passes through the Cantonment Gate.
As a traffic volunteer there, the 55-year-old belonging to Kallattumukku near the coastal area of Panathura in Thiruvananthapuram has served during the terms of A K Antony, E K Nayanar, Oommen Chandy and V S Achuthanandan over the years. Sometimes, he goes to the University Senate Hall to offer his services when the chief minister attends some programme there.
“I decided to become a traffic warden voluntarily,” Khareem says.“I had a family but they left me. Since then, I have been living with my brothers and sisters at Panathura. I don’t draw any salary for my volunteer role.”
Khareem acknowledges that the Cantonment Police have supported him wholeheartedly, and the police personnel appreciate the work he has been doing. The fourth gate, known as the Cantonment Gate, is the busiest entrance to the Secretariat. Besides the chief minister, other ministers, officials and staff members usually use that particular gate.
“Khareem loves the police force and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan,” says an officer with the Cantonment police station. During the last day of the previous LDF government’s tenure, the CM sent a car and took him to the Cliff House.
“Khareem was unaware where he was being taken. The CM gave him a sumptuous sadya and was dropped back at the Cantonment Gate. Recently, when Khareem was manning traffic in the rain, the CM came out of his car and extended him an umbrella,” the officer points out.
But with age catching up, Khareem is at a stage where he says he cannot continue in that fashion. “I require money to meet my expenses. Now, my siblings provide for me,” he says.