Coimbatore: In a thoughtful and community-centric move, prohibition and excise minister K Vignesh has requested well-wishers to rethink traditional gifting practices.“Instead of bringing conventional ceremonial items such as flower garlands, shawls, bouquets and expensive gift articles, please bring educational supplies like notebooks, pens, pencils and other essential writing materials when coming to meet me,” he appealed to the public.According to a statement from the minister, the initiative aims at directly supporting and empowering underprivileged students in the state. He said the stationery items collected from the visitors would be distributed to students of govt schools. He emphasized that these seemingly small contributions would be of great help to the boys and girls who need them most to continue their education smoothly.“A few days ago, I visited a govt school and felt very sad seeing the condition of a girl student’s school bag. I received more than 2,000 shawls and thousands of garlands, which are really not useful to anyone, after I assumed office as a minister. Visitors who come to meet me give them out of love. So, I thought of converting this love into something useful and am requesting them to gift me educational stationery instead of garlands,” the minister said.The initiative has been warmly received by the public and has set a progressive benchmark for political leaders and public servants to channel ceremonial greetings into meaningful social welfare.
