A differently abled youth, who was desperately waiting for a hand-pedalled tricycle for several years, has finally got it within 24 hours after Collector M. Karunakaran visited the beneficiary’s village.

When Dr. Karunakaran chaired the mass contact programme held at Subramaniyapuram in Sivagiri taluk on Wednesday, he gave away Rs. 8.80 lakh-worth welfare measures to 67 beneficiaries and received petitions from the public.



Even as the people were vying with one another to submit petitions to him to ensure early redressal of their grievances, M. Manikandan, a physically challenged youth, carrying a petition in hand, was struggling to reach the dais to hand it over to the Collector. Since no one was accompanying him, his repeated request to take him near the Collector got diffused in the commotion.


On seeing the youth requesting everyone around him to help him reach the Collector, Dr. Karunakaran asked one of the officials to get the petition from the differently abled petitioner and asked him about his need. “If the Collector is kind enough to give me a hand-pedalled tricycle, it will be of great help for me,” Mr. Manikandan replied.



As District Differently Abled Rehabilitation Officer T. Manohar was also present there, the Collector asked him to ensure early supply of a hand-pedalled tricycle to the youth. “Just fulfil his genuine demand and report it to me as early as possible,” Dr. Karunakaran told Mr. Manohar.


On Thursday morning, those who happened to cross the first floor of the Collectorate where the Collector’s chamber is located saw the youth gleefully sitting in the ‘gift’ from the Collector.


“My callused limbs will not bleed anymore, thanks to the Collector’s efforts,” Mr. Manikandan said while leaving the Collectorate with the much-awaited gift.



Source: The Hindu, 20th Feb 2015