Instead of flowers, villagers to give cash to bereaved kin in Nagapattinam

NAGAPATTINAM:  In a path-breaking decision that may live for posterity, residents of Agaram and Santhanveli hamlets near Vedaranyam in Nagapattinam district have collectively resolved that, henceforth, only one garland on behalf of the entire village will be used for paying respect to the dead in funerals and money meant for garlands and flowers will instead be handed over to the grieving families as financial succor.  The residents of the hamlets in Ayakkaranpulam panchayat passed the resolution recently at a meeting held in Santhanveli.

A Anbalagan, a 64-year-old village elder of Santhanveli, said, “We have decided that only one garland from the village would be used to pay homage to the departed. The rest of the money kept for paying floral tributes will be used for helping the bereaved families. It will help families that may have lost a senior member or a breadwinner to make ends meet.”

The two hamlets have about  500 people from 120 families. The realisation dawned on the villagers after a farmer died recently and close to Rs 1 lakh was spent on his funeral flowers by the villagers collectively. 

Instead of buying flowers, villagers now give money to deceased’s kin

The hardship of the grieving family made the villagers later realise that the money spent on flowers and garlands could have been given to the family. The decision has now inspired many other villages in Vedaranyam block, and some of them are considering embracing the progressive practice, S Ramaiyan, president of Ayakkaranpulam second panchayat, said,

“This is a welcome move. We are considering implementing it in all the villages in our panchayat. As a local body, we also face challenges in clearing the flower waste from roads after funeral processions. People on two-wheelers too face the risk of slipping on roads because of the flowers. We can now minimize such risks.”