From ASHA worker, she graduates to a panchayat member

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  During the lockdown days, J K Girija was the lone ‘helper’ in Thirupuram ward of the panchayat with the same name in Thiruvananthapuram. An ASHA worker, the 52-year-old  used to deliver medicines, food and other necessary items to people holed up in their homes in the aftermath of the Covid-19 outbreak. Now, her win in the panchayat elections from the ward, as an NDA candidate, is being celebrated on social media. Of particular interest was a photograph that showed her sitting amid vegetables kept for sale. But she is not a vegetable vendor, rather a good samaritan willing to help everyone without expecting any thing in return. 

As a semblance of normalcy began to return to life, aside of her duties as an ASHA worker, she used to help a 72-year-old wayside vegetable vendor named Chellamma. One day, a few BJP workers photographed her when she sat near the vegetables kept for sale. That picture went viral.“I am not looking at religion, caste or any such thing. It is my passion to serve people. Some of them give me money. I happily accept it as I also need to look after my family,” Girija says.

And her relentless service during the nerve-racking Covid outbreak didn’t go unappreciated. Primarily a tailor, she also stitches clothes to order from her acquaintances. “For the past 20 years, I have been serving the people of Thirupuram.

But I never thought of contesting an election. When BJP approached me, I refused initially. But when I discussed it with my sons, they encouraged me. This is not my victory, it is the people’s. They know me very well. My service will continue forever,” she says. 

That despite her personal travails. Girija’s husband is a psychiatric patient and she is living with the support of her sons, the elder one, Anoop, a mechanic apprentice at Kochuveli railway station and the younger,  Anish , a Class XI student.