Padma award apt honour for Chinnapillai

A delighted Chinnapillai said she received a call from Madurai Collector S Natarajan at noon on Friday. “He said that I had been chosen for an award, but did not mention it specifically,” she said.

As she would later be informed, Chinnapillai is one of the seven personalities in Tamil Nadu to have been chosen for the award, announced on the eve of the country’s 70th Republic Day.

A resident of Pullucheri, a small village in Mathur panchayat near Alagarkovil in Madurai, she has also championed the cause for inculcating the habit of saving money among people, eating healthy food and educating children with discipline. She has also prevented over 50 child marriages.

Chinnapillai is currently an advisory leader of Makkal Thalaivargal Valarchi Kuzhumam of Kalanjiam Trust, which is affiliated to the DHAN Foundation, Madurai. Stating that she has been working for public welfare since 1990, Chinnapillai recalled how she fought against all odds to achieve her objectives through social service. “I did not receive any support from my relatives but managed to overcome hurdles to work for the people.”

Stating that she was witness to several families getting split due to the alcohol problem, she said: “It has remained a top priority in my mission to educate and counsel people to give up this harmful practice.” She hoped that the State government would soon ban alcohol just as how it imposed a ban on plastics. While recalling her services, she told DT Next that she bagged several awards including ‘Stree Sakthi Puraskar’ (Women Power award), which was conferred by the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2001 in New Delhi.

She was also honoured with ‘Kalaignar Porkizhi award’ and also by several television media channels in recognition of her service. The last award conferred on her was the State government’s ‘Avvaiyar award in June 2018. She received the award from Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami for her work in uplifting the lives of rural women.