Heroic 80--yr-old couple in TN hit the ground to donate rice bags to daily wagers

Despite the nation being under lockdown to prevent the spread of Coronavirus, an 80-year-old couple - R. Sekkappan and S. Nagammai - in Madurai hit the ground to home deliver about 840 bags of 10kg rice to daily wagers in Okkur village in Sivaganga district in Tamil Nadu.

"Okkur is my native village and most of the people there are daily wage earners. I thought of their plight as they will not be able to earn during the lockdown and in turn would not be able to buy rice and other items," Sekkappan told IANS.

His wife S. Nagammai immediately agreed to his idea of distributing 10kg rice bags to each household in Okkur so that the poor can tide over their difficulties.

"I contacted a rice mill and they agreed to supply the rice in bags. It was Ponni rice with each kilo costing about Rs 45. We had bought about 8,400 kg," Sekkappan owning a fuel outlet in Madurai said.

The next challenge is transporting the rice to the village as the transport is not permitted.

"I told the police about the rice donation and sought their permission. They readily gave the permission and reached the rice to Okkur village where after maintaining social distancing the bags were home delivered to 800 families having ration cards," Sekkappan said.

According to him, there are elderly people living alone without ration cards and about 40 rice bags were given to such people.

"In one-and-half days the distribution of rice bags got over. It gave us a great satisfaction as we were actively involved," Sekkappan added.

Queried about his children Sekkappan said his two sons and two daughters are overseas.

Sekkappan had also built temples at Okkur village.-IANS