Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy’s sudden visit to his Nellithope constituency and act of entering a drain barefoot to clean it, caught everyone by surprise.
Mr. Narayanasamy, who was his usual spick and span self, was returning after participating in the the 55th Raising Day celebrations of the Puducherry police on Monday, when he took a detour to Nellithope and decided to lead by example in the Government’s ‘Swachhata Hi Seva’ campaign.
The Chief Minister stepped into the drain with a shovel and removed the sludge with gusto.
If ever there was one, this was the definitive rallying call to all legislators to participate in the ‘Swachhata Hi Seva’ drive — a fortnight-long campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 15 and timed to conclude on the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation.
And, among the multitude of likes the gesture ratcheted up on social media, one response stood out — a commendation by none other than the Prime Minister who wrote: “Narayanasamy Ji, kudos to you for leading from the front and inspiring others to strengthen the movement to clean India.”
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Puducherry’s first women Director General of Police Sundari Nanda has won accolades for her decision to speak in Tamil at the 55th Police Raising Day Parade. Ms Nanda, though a Tamilian by birth, had spent most part of her life in New Delhi.
She decided to give her introductory speech at the parade in Tamil. Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy, who was the next in line to speak, thanked the DGP for speaking in her mother tongue.
As the word spread that the DGP could speak in Tamil, family members of policemen and police aspirants gathered at the venue expressed their wish to interact with her. She obliged by freely mingling with those gathered at the parade ground.
Contributed by Rajesh B. Nair and M. Dinesh Varma