TIRUVANNAMALAI: It was Roman statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero (79 BC–51 BC) who said “Not for ourselves alone are we born”. Aimed at giving a new lease of life for the Irula community men who were emancipated from the inhuman exploitation in brick kilns and other occupations after being enslaved for years, a model village comprising of housing facilities, employment opportunities and recreational avenues is coming up at a far off village – Meesainallur in Tiruvannamalai.
As many as 150 families will be accommodated in pucca houses and provided employment at the model village in a sprawling area of 150 acre. “The project was launched in 2018 at a cost of ` 16 crore. There would be a charcoal producing unit, brick kiln, paper cutting unit and a petrol bunk in the site itself,” Collector KS Kandasamy told Express.
It’s a battle to conquer
Leave my story. My story is just one similar to the hundreds you will find here. Let us talk about my sister who just passed class 10. Will she at least be saved?, asks Kaviya from Tiruvannamalai who scored 819 marks out of 1,200 in class 12 exams three years ago.
Growing up reading and hearing of how hardwork and determination will take one places, Kaviya too believed that she could pursue nursing. She studied well. She braced for any eventuality and toughened up to overcome any hurdle. But then a system too strong and well-oiled murdered her dreams.
Kaviya today works at a textile shop for minimal wages. Her father is a woodcutter and mother toils at a brick kiln. “Now my sister is entering her class 11. She too has dared to dream. I am trying everything to at least secure her a community certificate,” Kaviya says, belying the lessons her struggle for a certificate taught her.