TIRUNELVELI: A day after a few children from the Narikuravar community were allegedly denied entry into the Nellaiappar temple to take part in the free meal programme organised to mark the death anniversary of former CM C N Annadurai, the HR&CE department denied the charges on Wednesday.
Along with issuing a media statement denying the allegations, the department also released an eight-minute CCTV clip regarding the incident. However, activist David Raja, to whom the children allegedly complained about denial of entry, and advocate V Maharajan, said the department had released only a selected portion of the footage.
“To mark former CM Annadurai’s death anniversary on Tuesday, a Samabandhi offering free meals began at 12.30 pm, in which TN Assembly Speaker M Appavu, Tirunelveli corporation mayor, joint commission of HR&CE and other officials took part. A total of 792 people were served food,” the department said.
“Unexpectedly, more people arrived at 1.45 pm. Hence, food prepared under the daily free meal scheme was also distributed. At 1.48 pm, temple staff informed David Raja, who had brought four children, that the Samabandhi had concluded. However, David Raja spread misinformation. The department is in the process of initiating police action against David Raja,” the statement read.
However, David Raja disputed the claim. “One of the children clearly stated in the video shot and uploaded by me on Tuesday that they were not allowed to partake in the free meal event during their first attempt without any reason. The second time, they were denied entry when I brought them citing food shortage. The department selectively released only a portion of the footage. The HR&CE department must release the entire footage. My oral complaint to Joint Commissioner Kavitha would have been recorded by another camera,” he said.
When contacted, Kavitha told TNIE that she would download and analyse the two-hour CCTV footage recorded during the samabandhi.
Mayor G Ramakrishnan also denied David Raja’s allegations. Addressing reporters, he said, “There is also a political motive behind David Raja’s claim. God will take care,” he said. In the evening, Speaker M Appavu also denied refusing free meals to children in a statement.