“Every morning, when I leave for work, I take 200 face masks with me to give to those passengers not wearing one,” says Karuppasami, a conductor with Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation, Dindigul region, and a resident of Bodi in Theni district.

With the government relaxing the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in phases, TNSTC has started operating 50% of its fleet within the particular zones, except in four districts, including Chennai.

Mr. Karuppasami told The Hindu that he used to discuss the pandemic situation with his family members at home and one day he hit on the idea of giving away face masks to passengers of his bus so that even the uninformed can protect themselves from the infection. When he spelt out the idea, his family members were all in favour of it. So immediately on receiving his salary, he bought face masks in bulk.

“I decided to give a mask to every passenger who boarded the bus without wearing one. I carry about 200 pieces with me daily. Some do not even have an idea about the novel coronavirus infection and the seriousness of the issue,” Mr. Karuppasami says.

One of his friends and a colleague had this to say: “When his wife reminded him about the educational expenses of his son and daughter, the children quickly intervened and said - let appa go ahead with this gesture. We can pay the college fee next month when he gets his salary.”

A video footage of the conductor wearing a full cover overall and addressing his passengers is going viral on the social media. This unassuming man says, “We have to fight the COVID-19 with grit and defeat it.”