In a rare gesture, a woman tahsildar has shared her prize money with two of her colleagues.
N. Sugi Premila, the flying squad tahsildar — hailing from Garanvilai near Marthandam serving in the Revenue Department in Kanyakumari district — received the ‘Kalpana Chawla’ Bravery Award from Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Independence Day in Chennai earlier this month.
The award
The award included a gold-plated medal, a certificate and Rs. 5 lakh.
Ms. Sugi Premila shared the reward with Revenue Inspector Jothish Kumar and her driver John Bright, who cooperated with her in carrying out search operations to prevent smuggling of essential commodities to different parts of Kerala from Tamil Nadu.
The flying squad tahsildar handed over cheques of Rs. 1 lakh each to Mr. Jothish Kumar and Mr. Bright from her prize money.
Team work
While speaking to The Hindu over telephone she said, “My subordinates also deserved to get the prize amount… It was team work. Hence, I decided to share with them too,” she noted.
The official further said, “Whenever I received information from my sources, I alerted my subordinates. They, in turn, rushed to the spots to crack down on anti-social elements and illegal acts,” Ms. Premila said.
