The Janamaithri police officers at Thiruvambady are all set to make Onam memorable for the tribespeople of Muthappanpuzha.
About 60 tribal families will take part in the Onam celebration on Sunday, being hosted with funds contributed by 35 policemen of Thiruvambady station.
Station House Officer J.E. Jayan said they chose Muthappanpuzha for the event as it was the biggest tribal settlement within the station limits. “All my colleagues have contributed ₹500 each to meet the cost of celebrations with a traditional Onasadya,” he added.
The Janamaithri stations in other locations have also come up with similar programmes for the community.
K.T. Sreenivasan, Station House Officer of Kodenchery station, said his colleagues had teamed up with a regional trust to organise the celebration with Onasadya and Onakkodi at the Chippilithodu colony last week. About 10 tribal families took part in the function, he said, adding that it was one of the many compassionate initiatives the police officers had taken up for the underprivileged community.
Police officers from the Peruvannamoozhi station said they had been hosting Onam celebrations for the tribal community for several years. “We conducted this year’s celebration last Tuesday and there were around 50 persons, including policemen, to enjoy the Onasadya,” said Station House Officer K.K. Rajan. They also gifted clothes to some of the tribal children at the event.
At the Perambra station, the formal celebration, complete with an Onasadya, was held on Saturday, which was attended by about 35 families from the nearby Sambava Adivasi colony. Circle Inspector K.P. Sunil Kumar said the police also hosted a tug-of-war competition as part of the event. District Police Superintendent (Kozhikode Rural) M.K. Pushkaran and Magistrate Anne Marie Kuriakose were among those who were part of the celebrations.