On June 5, tagging Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, a journalist from a Tamil news outlet tweeted a story of a family unable to even afford milk to feed their children. It was reported that the family did not have a ration card to avail free rations provided by the government.
3 பெண் பிள்ளைகளை வைத்து கொண்டு பால் வாங்க கூட முடியாமல் தவிக்கும் குடும்பம்.
குடும்ப அட்டை இல்லாததால் அரசின் உதவிகளை கூட பெற முடியாத நிலை. https://t.co/Ze8Pz9QcRdPls help them sir @CMOTamilNadu
— Stalin SP (@Stalin__SP) June 5, 2020
Saravana with his wife Devi and 3 children Harini, Hasini and Kamini, stay at a small rented house in Madipakkam, Chennai. Saravana, the only breadwinner for the family, works as a delivery person with a food aggregating app to make ends meet. Due to the lockdown, his job has been erratic with no income coming in. Pushed to the brink of poverty, the family had put themselves through hunger.
He is reported to have said that he was able to get rice and oil but not milk and sugar for the children. “I don’t know any other work. I know to do a turner’s job but the industries are all closed now. I have been struggling for the past 3 months. There was no way out and we have come to the streets now”, a distressed Saravana told the news outlet.
On top of this, it was reported that the house owner had cut-off electricity due to non-payment of rent. With no gas connection, the family that was surviving on electric stove didn’t have the means to even have one good meal a day. Saravana’s wife Devi said that nobody came to their help. Saravana told that as they stayed in a rented house, they did not have a ration card to get free rations. He had requested for the government’s help.
The next day, Chief Minister Palaniswami tweeted the journalist asking for their details and said that he would ask his officials to immediately come to their rescue to provide them with necessary essentials. The family’s details were collected assuring the family that the ration card would be issued immediately.
அவர்களது தொலைபேசி எண்ணை பகிரவும் தம்பி. உடனடியாக எங்களது அதிகாரிகள் அவர்களை தொடர்பு கொண்டு உதவுவர். https://t.co/3hLzmlwG3m
— Edappadi K Palaniswami (@CMOTamilNadu) June 6, 2020
அவர்களின் பிரதான கோரிக்கையான "குடும்ப அட்டை" வழங்கத் தேவையான தகவல்கள் அனைத்தும் சேகரிக்கப்பட்டது. கூடிய விரைவில் அவர்களுக்கு குடும்ப அட்டை வழங்கப்படும். https://t.co/EnW14Jd7tC pic.twitter.com/jmA6c1nqzL
— Edappadi K Palaniswami (@CMOTamilNadu) June 7, 2020
Meanwhile, Sozhinganallur MLA Aravind Ramesh of the DMK too provided the family with essentials.