''MY POST ON VIJAY MISINTERPRETED'' - ASSISTANT COLLECTOR OF PALAKKAD

One single Facebook post by the assistant collector of Palakkad, Umesh Kesavan about a remote hamlet in Attapadi tribal block (Kerala) becomes the viral talking point among the youngsters now, just because it had actor Vijay’s name tagged to the post.

Umesh’s status reads “Got a chance to visit a remote hamlet in the Attapady tribal block of Palakkad district yesterday. The roads were non-existent, the street lights had gone into hiding, toilets were a no-no (When asked "where is your toilet?", a guy pointed out the entire hill around him and said "it's all our toilet") and there was general apathy towards government. A bunch of guys there were not interested in going to school as they found it pointless anyway. They had no clue about the society around them . When asked what do they do to pass time during non-agricultural seasons/weekends , one guy said "We watch Vijay movies and songs in Tamil channels all the time". Crores and crores of social welfare funds had not reached that untouched remote hamlet. Only Vijay had reached.”

This is definitely a happy moment for all Vijay fans but that was not the purpose of this post. Few media groups have reported this news in a way that would only cater to the fans of Vijay, majorly relying on the mass factor of the star and not as it is. We thought why not do it the right way? So we got in touch with Mr Umesh Kesavan himself and here is what he had to say.

"We are currently working on this Suchitwa Mission. It is something like the Swachh Bharat. But this is a Kerala government funded campaign formed to make Kerala waste and pollution free. ODF (Open defecation free) is one of the major motives of Suchitwa - meaning toilet constructions in remote areas. So, as a part of the campaign, I happened to visit this remote hamlet in Attapadi tribal block, which was in a very bad state. And I had shared my observation on my Facebook forum like I usually do. Since the post had Vijay’s name , it got viral and that shows the reach he has. But I am sad that my post has been misinterpreted by many and it has now completely turned out to be counterproductive. I see people talking only about Vijay’s mass image but that was not the purpose of the post."

So what was your meet with Vijay about?

"I met him as a representative of Suchitwa. I wanted Vijay to be a part of this social campaign, as I strongly believe that a popular face could bring in a change. Vijay is very popular in Kerala and he has a better reach than most Mollywood superstars. So I met Vijay and asked him to be a part of our Suchitwa campaign. But I want to make it very clear that the purpose of the meet is to involve a popular star in a social campaign and nothing more."

Avinash Pandian