TIRUCHY: To encourage the virtue of honesty among the public, a daytime ‘honesty shop’ was opened at Papanasam in Thanjavur, marking Gandhi Jayanti on Thursday.

The ‘Aal Illa Kadai’ (A shop without a shopkeeper) in Tamil, opened on Thursday morning for Gandhi Jayanti in a portion of the bus shelter at Papanasam, located on the Thanjavur-Kumbakonam main road, and the Papanasam DSP Kumaravelu, who opened the shop, said that such initiative would value the virtue of honesty among the people for which Gandhiji stood for.

The shop had articles including plastic items, notebooks, pens and confectionery such as biscuits and, most importantly, books on the life and works of Mahatma Gandhi. Articles to the tune of Rs 15,000 were displayed, and each item had a price tag. A buyer could select the item and pay by dropping the amount in a box kept in the shop.

“This is the 26th year we have been opening the honesty shop by the Rotary Club,” said Murugavel, the Rotary Club president.

He said that the shop had a brisk business from the morning hours till 6 pm. The customers who were particularly children had enjoyed shopping at the honesty shop, he said.