TRICHY HEROES(Revised/Gopa)Trichy: Back then, when H Ghouse Baig was taking baby steps in writing complaints to government officials and the print media on the civic issues in the city, he even received death threats. Fearing reprisal, his family even pleaded with him not to go after such public causes. That was decades ago and Baig, now 62, has completed 37 years shooting off letters to newspapers highlighting various problems.A retired metallurgical assistant with Southern Railways, Baig honed letter-writing skills after joining the railways in 1979 when he began reading newspapers. He got his first letter published in 1980 and since then has seen 2,167 more appear in the letters or grievances columns of dailies. However, Baig feels that it is high time people rose to the occasion to protect their rights. He agrees that many do raise public issues but they lack the drive to take them to the departments concerned.“People nowadays rely heavily on social media platforms to criticise but fail to take the issues to the next level. In those days, letters from readers highlighting the civic issues in the city served as a strong tool to shake official apathy,” says Ghouse Baig . He recalls that his letters to both English and vernacular dailies in the nineties had prompted two former district collectors and a municipal commissioner to check for themselves the issues raised and take action. The collectors were K A Krishnamoorthy and V Moorthy while Trichy corporation’s first municipal commissioner Swaran Singh also addressed his complaints.“Though social media and digital platforms have been proliferating, the effect of publishing complaints in dailies will never go down. Paper clips stay as a record and are still a strong tool in highlighting official apathy,” Ghouse adds. He remembers having received letters warning of grave consequences for acting against anti-social elements. Undaunted, he continued addressing the letters to relevant authorities and dailies hoping for a solution.Thanks to his activism, several complaints from retired railways officials against bad roads, unstable EB posts and uncleared garbage had been resolved by the respective departments over the past three decades. Ghouse had of late been also vocal on issues confronting the city that needed imminent attention. “People have to record the issues with evidence and communicate them to the stakeholders for a solution. Ranting and blabbering will not help,” Ghouse told TOI. Now heading a consumer protection council in Ponmalai, the retired railway official said that youths should nurture their thoughts and actions for consumer rights instead of being mute spectators.

Stay updated with all the Latest Trichy headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.