Pune accountant writes a letter a day to president for 7 months

Pandithar Shivkumar Perumal is a man of letters and he is striving for change Dismayed by increasing atrocities against women in the country and to demand establishment of tough regulations to punish culprits Perumal an accountant with the Infosys BPO in Hinjewadi has been sending postcards to the Presidentrsquos office every day since April 20 Pic Krunal Gosavi Speaking to MiD DAY Perumal said he decided to take the step after the horrific December 16 2012 Delhi gang rape ashe wanted to express his annoyance towards existing laws which he felt werenrsquot stringent enough to deter future offenders ldquoI am a son a brother a husband and a father As an average human being it is painful to witness the suffering of countless women against whom crimes are committed in our country daily What can be more brutal than the rape of a threeyearold girl or a 60yearold woman All this amid the outrage against the Delhi gangrape incident Writing for change Pandithar Shivkumar Perumal is optimistic about his efforts bearing fruits in the futureu00a0Pic Krunal Gosavi It shows that offenders are not afraid of committing such hideous crimes because they are not getting the kind of punishment they deserve Irsquove been sending one postcard to President Pranab Mukherjeersquos office every day for the last seven months This is my way of demanding stringent laws and punishment for those who assault womenrdquo he said Optimistic A resident of Tingre Nagar in Vishrantwadi 38yearold Perumal is optimistic about his efforts bearing fruit in the future ldquoThough I have not got any response from the Presidentrsquos office so far I will continue sending postcards on behalf of my family till the time they are safe from any such crimes As an ordinary citizen I am concerned about my wife and daughterrsquos safety I get worried the moment they step out of the house I want the scenario to change which will happen only after the implementation of stringent lawsrdquo he said Commenting on Perumalrsquos initiative Shiv Sena MLA Neelam Gohre said ldquoThis is a welcome move on a personal level Such individual and collective expression is very important and we should encourage it As a further step what our society requires is active participation I would like people like Perumal to join womenrsquos help centres like Stree Adhar Kendra and work as volunteers Today we need to protect women who approach the police or the courts to demand justice after being assaulted We hope to see more citizens becoming aware about social justice and involve themselves actively to demand the same from the governmentrdquou00a0 Presidentrsquos office oblivious When contacted Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson Venu Rajamony said ldquoI am not aware of this matter and am currently not in Delhi I need to check with the office to find out if we have been receiving any such postcardsrdquo He asked this reporter to contact him on Monday when he would be back in office Voices This is a welcome step by this individual But such initiatives must be taken on a bigger scale The intensity of crimes against women has increased lately We used to feel much safer in earlier days No lone man can change todayrsquos scenario We need a combined effort from all quarters Aarti Halbe medical counsellor I donrsquot think any such endeavour will alter the current state of affairs What change can one person bring which did not happen through collective efforts like candlelight marches Mentality of people needs to be transformed to prevent crimes against women and this will take ages Sneha Kulkarni law student I think we will need to put right the outlook of people first Only then we can expect reforms in society But itrsquos a mammoth task I doubt if the President will even notice such postcards arriving at his office Anuja Bhondwe PR professionalu00a0