ERODE: While bidding a final goodbye to your loved ones isn’t easy, the inability to provide a dignified funeral can makes it tougher. Volunteers of Siragukal, an NGO based in Erode, make this grief a little endurable for the underprivileged, by helping them arrange a proper farewell for their near and dear ones. The program -- ‘Kaaduvarai Siragukal’-- initiated by the NGO provides all necessary facilities required to conduct the last rites, free of cost.
They provide a freezer box, awning or ceremonial tents, tables, chairs, beverages, cutlery and other materials. “This is an expensive affair. Some of them cannot even arrange that much money,” says Siragukal president Vimal Karuppannan. “At least Rs 3,000 is needed to rent a freezer box for a day. When other things are taken into account, the amount goes up to Rs 10,000 a day.
Many of them have rites that go on for more than a day. So, we decided to help these people by providing the required material free of cost,” says Vimal. When the pandemic hit and lockdown was imposed, Siragukal was a relief for many suffering in silence.
“I was working in a garment unit in Tirupur and my father died in August in Coimbatore. I was going through a financial crisis and it was difficult to rent a freezer box. But thanks to Siragukal, they immediately arranged the facilities. Inspired by their work I started volunteering for them,” says, A Kumar Arul, one of the beneficiaries.