Andy
Tamil Nadu: Elango Rangaswamy’s disinfectant production unit can help increase job opportunities for rural villagers who have lost their jobs.
In the early 1990s, Kuthambakkam, a village located on the outskirts of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, was riddled with several issues like illegal liquor trade, poverty, poor infrastructure, domestic violence and Dalit discrimination. But today, all these issues are a thing of the past thanks to the efforts of Elango Rangaswamy, 61, a researcher, engineer and activist.
In 1996, seeing the condition of the village, Elango gave up his government job in Chennai and returned to Kuthambakkam to run for the panchayat elections as an independent candidate.
His win ushered in a wave of change in the village. From providing housing facilities for the villagers, creating a ‘Panchayat Academy’ to educate and train local leaders in Tamil Nadu to putting an end to the alcohol black market, Elango has done all this and more, to raise the standard of living in the village.
In these difficult times where the world is grappling with a pandemic, Elango has used his expertise in science and has developed a solar-powered disinfectant which he aims to provide to women self-help groups across India in order to increase job opportunities.
