K Karunakaran, a home guard in Kozhikode, became a social media sensation after a video of him conversing in Hindi with workers from outside Kerala went viral on Sunday (March 30). The clip shows him explaining what COVID-19 is all about and how one has to stay safe while the group of workers in Meypayyur, about 40 km from Kozhikode, listens attentively. Answering their questions patiently, Karunakaran tells them why they have to stay put in Kerala for the time being and how the government would ensure that they get food, water and shelter. His demeanour, communication skills and sincerity have been winning the 55-year-old accolades from all quarters.
The Ernakulam District Collector, Suhas S, shared the video on his Facebook page and added that words would not be enough to thank people like him. The video on his page has been viewed 2,13,000 times and shared by thousands. The Collector exhorts guest workers to listen to the video and ends the short note with ‘Big salute sir’.
“It was the Kozhikode Rural SP, Dr Srinivas A, who wanted home guards who spoke Hindi to get in touch with the workers staying in camps in Kozhikode district. He wanted us to find out if they had any problem that needed to be resolved by the administration. So, Ashraf Chirakkara, a civil police officer under the Janamaitri scheme, and I were assigned for the job. Now, I am with civil police officer Riyaz Ahmed. For the last four days, we have been reaching out to them and reassuring them, giving them my mobile number and telling them to get in touch with me for any problem they face,” he says over phone.
After ‘guest workers’, as Chief Minister Pinararyi Vijayan calls migrant workers, in Paippad in Kottayam district hit the streets on Sunday, demanding better facilities and that they be sent to their respective States, the Kerala government stepped up efforts to ensure that the workers’ needs were taken care of.
“On Sunday, I contacted the home guards and directed them to send Hindi-speaking people to be in touch with the workers in 64 camps in rural Kozhikode. Each camp has at least 50 men living there. We could keep an eye on them and see that their basic needs were met. We are talking to contractors who employ them to see that they receive their wages and to house owners to waive the rent for a month. Impressed by Karunakaran’s work, I have made him the mascot of Kozhikode Rural for guest workers and he will be the pointsperson for all of them coming under our jurisdiction,” explains Dr Srinivas.
Karunakaran says his duty is assisting in communicating with the workers. “On Sunday, we covered seven camps and the eighth one was at Meypayyur. By then, we were really tired and had already spoken to more than 400 labourers. All of them were anxious to know when they would be able to go home since the entire country was under lockdown to contain the COVID-19 spread. I pacified them, talked to them about the Coronavirus and told them about the necessity of a lockdown. It was there that Ashraf shot the video that went viral. That was incidental. I am still on my work that has been given to us by Meypayyur CI Anoop G,” he says.
- Dr Srinivas A, Kozhikode Rural SP, says the Rural Police has begun a scheme called ‘Apna Bhai, wherein a box has been kept in all ration shops and provision stores. So those buying their grocery can also buy something for the ‘Apna Bhai’ box. Every evening, the contents of the box are distributed among the guest workers who need it the most.”
“We are in the process of delivering rations to workers from other States living in camps that come under the Meypayyur police station under the leadership of the Kozhukallur Village Officer, Kozhikode. We begin at 8 am and go on till the work assigned to us is over,” says Karunakaran.
Karunakaran retired as Naik from the EMC, Kar Sena rank in 2006. His last posting was at Jodhpur. He is a resident of Perambra, Kozhikode. In 2009, he joined the home guard and had worked as a volunteer during the floods in Kerala in 2019 and 2018.
