SALEM: A roadside hawker in Salem has launched a spirited campaign against plastic Indian flags and distributed about 4,000 Indian tricolour in paper to spread awareness against toxic plastics on the eve of Republic day.
The 40-year-old doll seller on the Yercaud road, M.Thyagu Thomas has used bamboo sticks and paper to make the 4,000 flags.
Every year on Independence and Republic Day, the doll seller in Salem showcases his nationalist fervour by distributing at least 2,000 paper flags.” This time, I have distributed 4,000 paper flags.”
In his own modest way, the doll seller, though poor, is contributing his mite to the society. In the hill station of Yercaud, he has provided a free wheelchair to differently-abled person.
Not just that, he has received a letter of appreciation from the Prime Minister's office for translating the Swachh Bharat mission song into Tamil.
Thomas also visits the Yercaud villages frequently and spreads awareness among the local woodcutters not to go to Andhra Pradesh and indulge in smuggling of red sanders.
The woodcutters of Yercaud, it may be recalled, are frequently caught in Andhra Pradesh for smuggling red sandalwood or red sanders. “I will campaign against plastics in all the villages,” he adds.
