TIRUCHY: Sunday would remain a special day in the life of S Sembaruthi as she inaugurated a library in the presence of local MLA at Kollappadi village in Perambalur district. Two years ago, the 15-year-old girl developed the courage to confront her MLA and sought action to reopen the defunct library.
Daughter of Selvam, a farmer and resident of Kolappadi, Sembaruthi is a Class X student at the Government High School in Thungapuram.
According to SS Sivasankar, MLA of Kunnam constituency, Sembaruthi confronted him in August 2013 as he was about to get into his car after meeting locals and requested him to reopen the library in the village, which had remained closed for several years. “When I enquired about the library, no one even knew about the existence of such a facility,” he posted on his social media page. When Sivasankar asked the panchayat chief about the library , he was informed that the library was functioning from a rented building.
Following this, he sanctioned money from his local area development fund. However, that was returned on the grounds that the fund could not be used for branch library. Later, he got permission for a new library building, which Sembaruthi inaugurated on Sunday.
What made the occasion special was that the MLA had instructed officials to include Sembaruthi’s name in the official plaque placed in the facility. The girl’s father Selvam told Express that he was away from his home and could not attend the inauguration. He said, “as per her aspiration, I will try my best to make her an IPS officer”.