Chennai: The people of Sirudamur village in Chengalpattu district have been hoisting the Tricolour every day without fail since August 15, 2018.
“For the last two years, every morning at 8.45 a.m. a person has been hoisting the National Flag. After that Tamil Thai Vazhthu is sung followed by the National Anthem. At 4 p.m. the flag is brought down,” S. Vijayakrishnan, Associate Vice President, Esaf Small Finance Bank and the man behind this initiative, told IANS.
He said the village has about 400 houses and one person has agreed to carry out the flag duty daily and if he is not able to do it for some reason on any particular day, then some other person fills in.
He said the motive behind the practice is to instill a sense of patriotism and national pride in the people, particularly among the youth and children.
The Tamil Thai Vazhthu and National Anthem are played out on loudspeakers and they echo across the village daily for the benefit of the residents.
Vijayakrishnan was inspired by such a practice in Jammikunta town in Telangana where the National Anthem is played daily.
“A new flag is hoisted on Republic Day and Independence Day. In case of any damage to the flag during the year a new flag is bought,” Vijayakrishnan said.
He said when the idea was first mooted the villagers readily agreed.
The flagpole was installed at the village community centre which is near a primary school.
Vijayakrishnan rues that the village does not have a high school despite having a good number of students.
“From sixth standard upwards students have to walk or cycle about 8 km to attend school. This is one of the reasons for the girl students dropping out after fifth class in the village,” Vijayakrishnan said.
He said the existing school has only one teacher and there is no bus transport to Sirudamur.
