SRIKAKULAM: COVID-19 has dealt a severe blow to the family of Savitri (name changed) as her son fell victim to the virus. Following the death of the sole breadwinner of the family, the septuagenarian woman is bereft of any income source to run the family. Now, the woman and her visually challenged daughter are solely dependent on the social security pensions provided by the government for their survival.
Her son Rama Rao (name changed) used to run a tea stall at Patapatnam for livelihood. “With his meagre earnings, he used to look after us. Our small savings got exhausted due to lockdown,” she said, while narrating her plight to TNIE.
He reopened the tea stall after the lockdown was lifted. Hoping that their lives would be back to normal soon, she performed the marriage of her son.
Their happiness, however, did not last long as Rama Rao tested positive for coronavirus a fortnight after his marriage. He was admitted to GEMS Hospital for Covid treatment.
He succumbed to coronavirus on August 23. Following the death of her husband, the newlywed bride returned to her parents’ house leaving her motherin-law and sister-in-law to their fate. Moved by the plight of the old woman and her disabled daughter, some kind hearted people have started providing them essential commodities.
Currently, the mother-daughter duo are finding it extremely difficult to make ends meet as social security pensions are their only source of income for survival. “It is very difficult to sustain long with the social security pensions in the wake of rise in cost of living,” she said, seeking further help from the governmen