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Elderly Rajappan,
paralysed below both his knees, has been crawling on his hands all his life,
but he puts his hands to another noble act once he gets into his hired country
boat and rows across Vembabad lake. He
collects plastic bottles and other waste and thus provides us a role model on
our responsibility to the environment, as Prime Minister said about him in his
Mann Ki Baat.
Rajappan
has been foraging the lake for a livelihood for the last 17 years. He has no one to call his own nor a house of
his own. But with the attention he got
from Prime Minister’s mention of his mission, he has found himself the
recipient of an international prize from Taiwan.
The
International World Protection Award, carries a citation and a cash of $10000
(approximately 7 lakhs of rupees). The
amount has been credited to his account.
When
showers come, they come as deluge. The scrap
merchants association has offered him a powered boat for his use.
Mathrubhumi,
June 4, 2021
