Coronavirus India: Meet Annies Kanmani Joy, a Kerala farmer’s daughter who leads the COVID-19 fight in Karnataka's Kodagu

Growing up, her family did not have enough money to buy her school books. Today, Annies Kanmani Joy, the daughter of a poor farmer in Kerala, is the Deputy Commissioner of the Kodagu district in the Indian state of Karnataka. And, netizens are appreciating her efforts in leading the district's fight against COVID-19.

Kodagu's efforts to contain the spread of novel Coronavirus have been admired nationally since it is one of the few districts in the entire country where no new COVID-19 case had surfaced for 28 continuous days even as cases were soaring in other states, including other parts of Karnataka.

The first case in Kodagu, a tourist hill station, popularly known as Coorg, was reported on March 19. After this, there were zero cases subsequently for nearly five weeks. Many have said that it was Joy's alertness that has enabled the district to maintain low number of cases.

According to the updated numbers on covid19india.org, as of today, Kodagu has registered three coronavirus cases, two of which are active and one recovered.

Joy also announced yesterday that while many tourist sites across the country are opening today, those in Kodagu may take a few more days to reopen.

Reportedly, only registered homestays are allowed to operate, while hotels and resorts have been told to maintain records on guests with details of travel history, and information on whether they have completed quarantine.

She fought poverty to become a Civil Services officer

Poverty did not stop joy from clearing one of the toughest entrance exams for Civil Services in the country in 2012. Joy secured the 65th rank nationally in the latest Union Public Service Commission examinations.

This weekend, many Indian social media users shared the story of how Joy fought poverty and achieved her dream.

Facebook user Rajan P shared her story and wrote: “This shows that hard work, dedication, and persistence pay off… everything else is just an excuse.”

Reportedly, Joy belongs to a small village in Piravom, Kerala. Growing up her family did not have enough money to buy books for her education. As a child, Joy was apparently a bright student who aspired to become a doctor. After finishing her schooling, she wrote the MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) examination but did not pass. So, she went on to complete her graduation in nursing and became a nurse.

But, working as a nurse did not make her happy. Joy wanted to do something different to help others. Reportedly, while traveling to somewhere on the train, she met two people who enlightened her about the UPSC Civil Services Exam.

That was it. Joy shifted all her focus to clearing the exam. According to thetimesnow.com: “The biggest problem she faced while preparing for the exam was a lack of books and competitive magazines. Without this, the preparation for the exam was proving to be a far-fetched distance for her, but Annies decided that she would do her preparation only through the newspapers.”

Joy started reading newspapers, spending more time on the editorials and current affairs. In the examination, which is written by tens of thousands of students every year, she secured the 580th rank, the first time she wrote the test. Unsatisfied, joy made a second attempt at the test the following year, and secured the 65th position.

And tweep @Sandeep1288 added: “There are people like her, who put example of hard work, dedication and success. They need to be followed…”