A novel initiative called as Nermai Angadi (Honesty Shop) where the public can pick up required snacks from an unmanned shop functioning near 80-feet road at Periyar Nagar and drop the cash in the box has received good response from the public here.
With bakeries and shops selling snack items closed in the district due to spread of COVID-19, a youth Anandan has come up with the idea of running the shop for the benefit of the local people and road users. With support from JCI Erode Dynamic, he has been running the shop for over a week from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. everyday where snacks, chocolates, biscuits and bread packets are available and price mentioned in the packs. “People have to walk in to the shop, chose the product they needed and drop the money in the box”, he said and added that tender exchanges are kept in the box every day.
He said that the idea originated after he found people waiting for long hours in queue to purchase snacks from shops that functioned from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. “Here, people need not wait and they can purchase the required items easily”, he said and added that accounts were always correct. Products in the shops are regularly filled by him and the revenue generated is used to purchase the products, he added. “Since the response from the public is good, I have plans to continue running the shop after the lockdown period ends”, he added.