VILLUPURAM: A 15-year-old boy begging on the streets of M Kunnathur near Ulundurpet for money to bribe an official to sanction funds for his father’s funeral over 11 months after the latter’s death has only buttressed the deep-seated official apathy towards the bereaved.
When Ajith’s father Kolangi died of a kidney ailment, his family had sought the government assistance of Rs 12,500 earmarked for kin of the deceased, who was the sole breadwinner of the family. Last month, the family was informed about the fund sanction. When Ajith went to collect it, the Village Administrative Officer made him run from pillar to post for nearly a month. Then he allegedly put a proposal before the teenager: The fund would come only if Ajith greased his palm with Rs 3,000.
After knocking at the doors of relatives and getting rejected, Ajith approached his friends, who suggested a way to make the money and get the higher-ups take notice of their plight. They made flex banners, announcing the cause for which they were begging, and began canvassing bus passengers and motorists for funds last week.
By the end of Friday, Ajith had managed to collect around Rs 2,000. He continued his protest by begging to collect the remainder on Saturday. When contacted, Ulundurpet tahsildhar said that he had constituted a team to probe into the matter.
Kolangi was diagnosed with a major kidney ailment a year ago. Unable to afford treatment, his family—wife Vijaya (40) and children Ayyappan (19), Anushiya (17) and Ajith (15)—helplessly watched as the disease consumed him within a month. With no house or land to call their own, the family migrated to Mumbai to eke out a living, picking up odd jobs.