Allowance for kids of hooch victims
The 2024 Kallakurichi hooch tragedy claimed 69 lives, leaving 38 children orphaned or semi-orphaned. Krithika Srinivasan revisited the families a year later, on June 22, only to learn that the 38 children had not received the cash assistance promised by the government. Hours after TNIE flagged the issue, the pending amounts, including arrears, were credited to the children’s bank accounts. The government had announced a montly allowance of Rs 5,000 each for four children and Rs 4,000 each for 34 others.
Khaki with recognition
When S Senthil Kumar got a chance to interact with forest department staff during the National Forest Martyrs Day event at Tamil Nadu Forest Academy (TNFA), the staff highlighted their plight of not being recognised as police staff, though they work for the welfare of wild animals, mitigating animal-human conflict, in khaki uniforms. They highlighted poor uniform allowance — Rs 2,800 annually compared to Rs 4,500 for police personnel. TNIE’s report on June 27 prompted senior officials to act, leading to a government order hiking the allowance to Rs 4,500 and doubling compensation for kin of forest staff who die on duty from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.
Marksheets issued just in time
During N Dhamotharan's visit to the Government College of Education for Women in Coimbatore on July 10, the 2022–24 batch students said they had not received consolidated marksheets or provisional certificates even a year after graduating, preventing them from applying for TRB teacher posts in government schools.
Citing delays in printing marksheets for 60,000 students, Tamil Nadu Teachers Education University (TNTEU) officials said that the university had to issue marksheets for about 60,000 students and the printing of the marksheets had not yet begun. TNIE reported the issue and took it up with the higher education department. As per a senior officer’s order, the printing of the marksheets was started immediately, and the marksheets were issued from July 21 to colleges. The graduates were hence able to apply for the TRB examination.
Cafe gets new lease of life
The Museum Cafe, a unique and fully accessible restaurant-cum-vocational training centre, run for persons with disabilities (PwDs) atop the Museum of Possibilities on the Lady Willingdon College campus in Mylapore, was being shut down by the Commissionerate for the Welfare of the Differently-Abled, reportedly to convert the premises into office space. Following Subashini Vijayakumar’s extensive coverage on November 25, protests and backlash on social media, the Commissionerate withdrew its order and announced that the cafe will continue to function at its present location.
Inquiry into abuse complaints
After Sinduja Jane’s report on May 19 on the inaction over sexual harassment complaints against the HOD of the Pathology Department at Government Dental College, Chennai, the health department constituted an inquiry committee to look into the allegations and suspended the accused. A probe is currently underway.
Crackdown on child marriage hotspots
A health department employee informed Sivaguru S about a few cases of pregnancy in Kelamangalam and Thally blocks of Krishnagiri that they were unable to register in the Pregnancy and Infant Cohort Monitoring and Evaluation (PICME) portal.
An enquiry by TNIE revealed six teenage pregnancies that could not be registered on the PICME portal due to altered dates of birth in Aadhaar cards. Two browsing centres and a photo studio, charging Rs 500 a pop, were involved in fudging Aadhaar data. Following TNIE’s coverage on June 18, the Krishnagiri collector ordered FIRs against the browsing centre and the photo studio. He also directed officials to register cases against those involved in such child marriage cases.