Others Could Not Do In 30 Years, this Collector In Tamil Nadu did in 30 days.

Prabhshankar T Gunalan has been the District Collector of Karur in Tamil Nadu for only about a month now but that has been enough to fulfil a 30-year-old dream of villagers in Kuruppampalayam. 

The village lies on the banks of the Amaravati river and is located a few kilometres from Karur town. It is home to about 300 families and lacks proper connectivity. The villagers had to cross a river in Andankoil panchayat to catch a bus to the town. On Juy 15, while on an official visit to check the progress of the MGNREGA scheme, the IAS officer's car was surrounded by the villagers. When he asked the reason, they told him that the village lacked public transport.  

The little joys of being in IAS. A short story:

15.7.21-Visited Karuppanpalayam village for an inspection.Villagers stopped my vehicle & demanded bus service, a 30 y demand.

19.7.21-Bus service launched for the village

A small step by Administration, a giant leap for the village

Villagers Walked Kilometres To Catch A Bus: 

The News Minute quoted the officer as saying," It



was a matter of remoteness in terms of geography, and not distance. The villagers walked 2 to 3 km to the other side of the river to catch a bus to the town. When the river dried up during lean months, they found a shortcut and would cross the river on foot or two-wheelers." However, in the last few years, the river has been full because of a check dam built near the village that releases water periodically. The main reason behind the lack of public transport in the village was that buses were not finding it profitable to ply to the village. 

The collector got to work. "I asked the TNSTC Karur division general manager to study the issue. They managed to start a bus service from Monday morning," said the collector. 

The Karur administration has launched two bus services daily. The bus scheduled for the morning reaches the village at 9.15 am, while the evening bus reaches at 6. 00 pm. Villagers have thanked the collector for the gesture. "We will not forget the collector for the rest of our lifetime, " said S Sampoornam, 60, from the village who goes for MNREGA work.