At the crack of dawn N. Kannan and a group of teachers assemble at the Uzhavar Sandhai functioning at the Zamindar Higher Secondary School ground in Thuraiyur town.
Armed with an identity card and a badge provided by the Tiruchi Rural police and covering their faces with masks, the teachers carry out their assigned task of ensuring personal distancing at the Uzhavar Sandhai where public converge to buy vegetables in the morning.
Even while ensuring personal distancing by positioning themselves at different spots within the Uzhavar Sandhai premises, the teachers make it a point to drive home precautionary measures to be taken by the shoppers to prevent the spread of COVID-19 virus.
The group of teachers dutifully carry out the task for nearly three hours at the Uzhavar Sandhai and leave for their respective residences only to return later to ensure personal distancing at ration shops, market areas, banks and Automated Teller Machines functioning near their residences.
Mr. Kannan and 43 other teachers from rural pockets in the district have been assisting the men in uniform over the past four days to ensure personal distancing at vantage places where public assemble to buy essential commodities and create awareness among them about COVID-19 and the simple steps to be taken to check its spread.
“We have voluntarily come forward to extend our assistance to the police who have been working on the field to ensure order in this crisis”, said Mr. Kannan, a teacher at a panchayat union middle
school at South Nalliamapatti village and a resident of Thuraiyur.
The teacher-volunteers are given a list of places close to their respective homes by the police to be covered to ensure personal distancing. The initiative came through with the support of the School Education Department authorities, a police officer said.
“In all, 44 teachers are coming for duty at present daily and are deployed at chosen spots in the district”, the officer added. Maximum number of 29 teacher-volunteers were being involved in the Musiri sub division which has Musiri, Thuraiyur, Uppiliapuram, Thottiyam, Kattuputhur,
Jambunathapuram and Thathiengarpet police stations under its jurisdiction.
In Lalgudi sub division, a total number of 10 teachers were involved in this voluntary task.
The teacher-volunteers have been discharging the work with a lot of dedication and involvement as a service to the society, said a senior police officer in Musiri.
The timings for these volunteers was staggered to give them a break in between, the officer said adding that they had also been provided with kit containing hand sanitiser and masks to protect themselves.
It was decided to involve the teachers as their message would carry lot of weight in public, another officer said. Mr. Kannan said their work lasts about five to six hours in a day along with the
police personnel.
The teachers have also been given the numbers of the jurisdictional police officers to contact in case of any emergency.