THENI: They say, the good old days of compassion and kindness are dead. If you are thinking on the same lines, think again. Meet the fans of movie actor Vijay who made a difference by paying up the loans of two farmers.
The occasion is the celebration organised by the fans in connection with the success of the actor's latest flick, Bigil. In the humble ceremony organised in a coconut grove at Karuvelnayakkanpatti where crackers, milk abishegams, poojas and hoardings were all absent, the fans honoured the two farmers - Arumugam of Jayamangalam and Muniyandi of Mariyaipatti village near Pallapatti - and handed over to them the settlement receipts.
This deviation from the 'usual track' is the brainchild of District Deputy Secretary of Thalapathy Vijay Makkal Eyakkam (People's Movement) Tamilselvan who is serving Indian Army in Assam, president Pandy, district treasurer Nanthakumar, district organiser Vembu and district advisor Kasi Prabu.
Once they finalised the celebration plan, they selected the two from the list of farmers, having pending loans at various primary agriculture banks, handed over to them by farmers' association leader Kannan.
Arumugam, who has 90 cents of land, has cultivated plantains after taking a loan of Rs 46,000 from Jayamangalam Primary Agriculture Cooperative Credit Society on March 7.
Meanwhile, Muniyandi has taken two acres of land on lease and has raised maize after getting a loan of Rs 60,000 from Koduvilarpatti Primary Agriculture cooperative bank on March 21, 2017. Though he repaid two installments (Rs 6,000 each), he could not pay the other installments due to his poor financial background.
Despite the financial crisis, he is in, Muniyandi provided for the education of his four daughters and married off three of them. His youngest daughter Vidhya, a civil engineer, is at his house at present.
Talking to Express, Muniyandi said that he was planning to repay the loan after selling the maize crops. "Now I am able to enjoy the harvest without worrying about the loan," he added.
The five members of the eyakkam went to the two banks and settled the loan amount (Rs 46,000 for Arumugam and Rs 49,450 for Muniyandi) on November 15.
On the noble gesture, Pandy of Theni said that their act followed the actor's advise to render help to the society and to wipe the tears of farmers who are economically weak. "This will make other fans also to serve the society better," he added.