Actor Karthi, who portrayed a farmer in Kadaikutty Singam, has been helping agriculturalists ever since he acted in the film. He has also been engaged in several philanthropic activities through his Uzhavan Trust besides honouring those who develop innovative Ag-tech devices.
This year, he went to his wife Ranjani’s native Kilampadi village in Erode and celebrated Pongal with the people there. Karthi, Ranjani and the couple's daughter Umayal carried the traditional Mulaipari pots and went in procession from the village temple to the river, where the pots were deposited as per tradition.
Later, Karthi participated in an event in Goundampalayam in memory of Kalingarayan, who single-handedly dug the canal named after him across the River Bhavani 738 years ago, for the benefit of farmers. Speaking at the event, the actor said, “The water from the canal was potable till 40 years ago but I hear it has become unusable now. The reason is that industrial wastes are being disposed of in this canal for a long while now. This is pathetic. The youth should come forward to do something about the present condition. They should go to all the nearby industries and insist that they clean the waste water before letting it into the canal. There’s no use in making huge money when health is gone. After all, health is wealth.”
The actor, along with several youngsters, took a pledge to clean the Kalingarayan Canal.
As announced earlier, Karthi distributed cash prizes to Udumalpet Sasikumar, Vellore Raja, Gokul and his friends from Erode Engineering College, who had come up with modern agricultural techniques and gadgets to benefit small and marginal farmers.
