The lack of passengers due Covid-19 pandemic lockdown along with rising fuel prices have made it tough for the autorickshaw drivers. Yet, a good soul decided to help them in their days of distress by offering three litres of fuel free to all the autorickshaws that drove into the fuel station in a remote village in Kasargod, Kerala.

The word about distribution of free fuel was spread by the Kudukoli Pump at Perla in Enmakaje gram panchayat for two days and on Monday (June 14) from 6.30 a.m. on Monday  they started giving it. Talking to the Indian Express, Siddeek Madumoole, who manages the fuel station said: "We counted 313 autorickshaws by the time we closed the pump at 9.30 p.m."

The fuel station on State Highway 64 and located five kilometre from Saradka in Karnataka on a normal day does not get 300 customers. 

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On June 14, the petrol price at the pump was Rs 97.70 and diesel was 93.11 per litre. So the fuel station may have given away petrol and diesel worth around Rs 1 lakh free of cost.

Siddeek’s elder brother owns this Indian Oil fuel station, a chartered accountant in Abu Dhabi.

Giving the reason as to why his brother decided to do this charitable act, Siddeek said he decided to give away petrol and diesel to ease the burden of autorickshaw drivers reeling under the lockdown and the daily increase in fuel prices. "This was done as charity and not to promote business," Siddeek said. He went on to add that autorickshaws came from Saradka in Karnataka, Perla, Badiadka, and even Neerchal, 15 km away.

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The auto drivers are happy and joyous. "In my 37 years as an auto driver, no pump has ever given petrol and diesel for free," said Sanjeeva Maipady, who drove 15 km from Neerchal to get the free diesel. Even though he used nearly one litre for the trip he still benefitted. "But I still got 2 litres for free.”

Another driver from Perla, Padmanabhan P, said he now earned around Rs 1,000 in three days if he filled the tank for Rs 500. "Two years ago, I was earning Rs 1,500 in two days for the same amount of fuel," he said. Though he has been an auto driver for 18 years, he said: “The last two years have been the toughest. I was debt-free. Now I am under debt and missed paying my EMI.”

Another driver, Udyakumar S from Perla was all praise for Abdulla Madumoole. "I know him personally. He does a lot of charity like distributing food kits to the poor. But this is the first time I ever heard of someone giving petrol for free.”

Joining him Sanjeeva remarked: “If he were in Perala today, we auto drivers would have garlanded him and given him a hero's reception.”