With Gandhi in mind, honesty is this shop’s best policy

A portion of the bus shelter at Papanasam on the Thanjavur-Kumbakonam main road was turned into the shop, selling a variety of stationery items, including notebooks, pens, household articles and confectionery items like biscuits. It also had books on the life and works of Mahatma Gandhi.

In an honest shop, a person can select an item (each has a price tag) of choice and pay by depositing the amount mentioned in a separate box kept in another corner of the establishment. “This is the 19th year that we organised the honesty shop,” said T Saravanan, Rotary Club, the main organiser. He said they have items worth Rs 15,000 and the amount collected was good, indicating no pilferage or shortchanging. Papanasam Sessions Court Judge Rajasekar inaugurated the shop. Sales commenced at 10 am and went on till 6 pm.

The initiative has a precedent with the Gandhian Welfare and Development Society of Karuppur in the district which used to sell bananas at the bus stop without employing anyone and the price of the fruit would be deposited in a hundi placed at a site which had a portrait of Gandhi. The banana shop ran successfully for seven years from 2000 to 2007 and the society members had settled in due course of time and hence could not continue the shop, sources said.

The initiative has a precedent with the Gandhian Welfare and Development Society of Karuppur in the district which used to sell bananas at the bus stop without employing anyone and the price of the fruit would be deposited in a hundi placed at a site which had a portrait of Gandhi.