Kottayam: Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed his effort to clean the Vembanad Lake despite physical challenges, NS Rajappan of Kottayam, has been gifted a mechanized boat.
Expatriate industrialist Sreekumar gifted Rajappan the boat through BJP state committee leader Sivasankaran.
BJP leader and Cochin Shipyard Director B Radhakrishna Menon gifted him the boat at a function held here on Monday. Rajappan was also honoured with a shawl.
BJP leader MK Naseer, Adv Noble Mathew and Kumarakom Panchayat member PK Sethu Jayakumar also attended the function.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday had lauded Rajappan who engages in cleaning the Vembanad Lake despite his physical challenges. PM had appreciated Rajappan in his Mann ki Baat address. Modi said the service done by Rajappan, who is half-paralysed, is an example for everyone.
“There is an elderly man, NS Rajappan, in Kottayam. He is unable to walk due to paralysis. But his commitment to cleanliness has not faded. For the past several years, he has been collecting plastic bottles from Vembanad Lake, sailing on his canoe. Imagine how high his ideas are,” Modi had said.
Manchadikkari native Rajappan has taken up environmental conservation as his mission. He is an active presence in the water bodies of upper Kuttanad. With both legs paralysed since birth, Rajappan collects plastic bottles from water bodies and sells them for a living.
Mathrubhumi.com had reported on Rajappan’s life in a video.
