For 8 days IAS officer toiled at Kerala relief camp without revealing who he was
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, SEP 05 :For eight days, Kannan Gopinathan worked at relief camps in flood-ravaged Kerala, spending two of those carrying large packages on his head while offloading relief material from trucks in the port city of Kochi. On the ninth day, he was recognised as an IAS officer and he quietly left, as discreetly as he had arrived and helped.
Gopinathan, a 2012 batch IAS officer serving as district collector in the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, had arrived in Kerala on August 26 as the state battled devastation from deadly floods. He was on an official visit to hand over a cheque for Rs one crore from Dadra and Nagar Haveli for the Kerala chief minister’s relief fund.
Once that engagement was over, the 32-year-old took a bus from state capital Thiruvananthapuram. Not to his home town Puthupally, but to one of Kerala’s worst-affected areas, Chengannur, where he went from camp to camp helping distressed people forced to abandon their homes and seek shelter.
He is reluctant to talk about it. “I didn’t do anything great. I was just a visitor. You have to talk to officers who live in the midst of the affected since the flood hit the state. They are real heroes,” Gopinathan said, describing as “embarrassing”, the moment when he was recognised and people clamoured to click selfies with him. He was spotted while volunteering at a relief camp at the Kerala Books and Publications Society office, by a senior currently posted in Kerala.
“Some officials even said they were sorry if anything they had said had hurt me. I thought if I remain there it will be a big disservice and left the place the immediately,” Gopinathan said, adding he was overwhelmed by the presence of volunteers from many parts of the country including the north-east.
He was also reluctant to talk to this reporter, saying, “I don’t want it to be story. It is unfair if you glorify me. Real heroes are there on the ground. If we keep the spirit like this I am sure Kerala will overcome the tragedy soon.”
On his return to Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Gopinathan applied for leave but the administration has marked the time he spent helping at the camps as an official tour.
The Kerala tragedy, which left over 400 dead and 13 lakh homeless, saw several young officers like Gopinathan brave bad weather and the threat of epidemic to engage tirelessly in rescue and relief work. Kerala’s food safety commissioner Rajamanikyam was seen carrying sacks of rice, Thrissur collector TV Anupama did rounds of camps with her young baby in her arms, and Thiruvananathapuram collector Dr K Vasuki led a team of volunteers from the front.
Couertesy: hindustantimes.com
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TN polls: TVK pushes DMK behind with leads in 83 seats, AIADMK ahead in 54
Chennai (PTI): New entrant TVK, led by actor-politician Vijay, was leading in as many as 83 constituencies on Monday when counting of votes polled in the April 23 Assembly polls was on across Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK was leading in 58 seats while the ruling DMK was ahead in 34, EC data showed.
About two hours after the postal ballots were counted and EVMs opened for multi-round counting, Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam surged ahead of its Dravidian rivals-- the DMK and the AIADMK, with the ruling party struggling to catch up.
If the trends maintain, Vijay could as well ensure the biggest electoral upset, something in lines with the "1967,1977" wins he had referred to in his campaign speeches.
While the Dravidian stalwart CN Annadurai brought the first non-Congress government in Tamil Nadu post-independence in 1967, the charismatic MG Ramachandran (MGR) installed the maiden AIADMK government 10 years later, unseating then DMK government under M Karunanidhi. TVK was leading in most Chennai segments, all considered DMK strongholds and currently represented by the party in the 234-member House.
A poor show by DMK could belie most exit polls giving an edge to it, riding on the number of populist measures Chief Minister M K Stalin had implemented in his five year "Dravidian model," inclusive governance.
According to EC and TV reports, 15 cabinet ministers, including Stalin were trailing. His son and deputy CM Udhayanidhi was also behind in his incumbent Chepauk-Tirvuvallikeni seat, according to a number of reports.
Stalin was trailing behind TVK's VS Babu by 1234 votes in Kolathur segment. Vijay was ahead in Tiruchirappalli East by over 3,000 votes at the end of two rounds of counting, according to EC data.
BJP is trailing in 26 constituencies and it is ahead in Thali segment alone. TVK is ahead in constituencies including Ponneri, Tiruvallur, Poonamalle, and Avadi.
AIADMK is leading in segments including Katpadi, and Guidyattam and party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami is ahead in Edappadi segment by 7003 votes.
DMK was leading in segments including Vellore, Anaikattu and Rishivandiyam.
