Uncertainty clouds future of children of construction workers killed in Nilgiris

Thirty-year old Shakila was among six women construction workers who died in a building collapse near here on February 7. The people of Gandhi Nagar and Melthalayattu Manthu areas have appealed to the Nilgiris District Collector to take steps to ensure that the government funds the education of the children of the six deceased workers.

Eight-year-old Vijay could not comprehend why his mother Shakila would not wake up and talk to him, despite his hours-long efforts to rouse her. It appears it may take him a few days to come to terms with the fact that, like his father Sivakumar, his mother too has passed on and would not be able to talk to him again. Thirty-year old Shakila was among six women construction workers who died in a building collapse near here on February 7. They got buried under sand and rubble at a construction site at Lovedale near here when an adjacent building collapsed.

Vijay is a student of class 3 in a government school. His father Sivakumar died three years ago and his grandmother Aarayammal is his only solace. ''Vijay has not even changed out of his school uniform. He is repeatedly asking if Amma would not talk and if she has joined Appa. The child has not eaten even a morsel of food,'' 75-year-old Aarayammal told PTI. Besides Vijay, two others, a 17-year-old girl and her school-going brother have lost their mother Muthulakshmi (36). Like Vijay, Sandya and Santosh too lost their father years ago. The plight of the children and the indigence faced by the families of the deceased workers cannot be described in words. The people of Gandhi Nagar and Melthalayattu Manthu areas have appealed to the Nilgiris District Collector to take steps to ensure that the government funds the education of the children of the six deceased workers. In a petition given to the collector, they requested that the government provide jobs to the next of kin of the deceased and that authorities ensure that the site owner pays the families compensation for negligence. The deceased belonged to Gandhi Nagar and Melthalayattu Manthu. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday announced a solatium of Rs 2 lakh for the families of each of the six deceased women construction labourers.