CUDDALORE:
Three persons from Cuddalore district have bagged the fellowship conferred by M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation-run Jamshedji Tata National Virtual Academy, for their services to local residents.
It is a national honour conferred not on academia or research scholars but ordinary persons, including school drop-outs, who are committed to social causes on their own and without the backing of any other organisation. The fellowship was given to S. Balamurugan (23) of Mudasalodai, S. Renganayagi (52) of Kattumannarkoil and K. Paramanandam (41) of Chidambaram at the seventh convocation of the Academy held in Mumbai in November.
Project Officer of the Chidambaram branch of the Research Foundation R. Elangovan told The Hindu that the fellowship did not carry any monetary benefit but only social recognition. They had been selected on the strength of their dedicated services for the public good. In fact, they turned out to be torchbearers for local residents, striving for revolutionary changes, mostly technology driven, in capacity building. Mr. Balamurugan and Mr. Paramanandam were associated with the Village Knowledge Centres set up by the Foundation.
Mr. Balamurugan was instrumental in setting up an electronic display system provided by the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Service (INCOIS) and popularising global positioning system among fishermen in Mudasalodai. The INCOIS system gives out weather forecast, besides occurrence of fish shoals in the sea. Mr. Balamurugan had taught the fishermen on how to read the system and when to venture into the sea.
He had also mobilised public opinion for getting better basic amenities, resulting in the laying of tar-topped road and construction of a child care centre. Mr. Paramanandam helped Maduvangarai village in getting an overhead tank through a multi-national service organisation. Through his efforts, 50 elderly people had got old age pension and 25 families educational support for their girl children.
Ms. Renganayagi spearheaded the drive to clean the clogged irrigation canal, against several odds, to benefit 1,800 acres of cultivable land at Themmur in Kattumannarkoil block. She motivated 260 farmers to go for crop insurance. Now, the district administration had sanctioned Rs. 2.5 lakh to spruce up the canal. Collector P. Seetharaman recently felicitated Mr. Balamurugan and Ms. Renganayagi at his camp office here.
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