Chennai:
Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay broke down and was unable to speak for nearly five minutes as he met families of those killed in the Karur TVK rally stampede, beneficiaries told NDTV after an emotional meeting on Friday. Nine months after the tragedy claimed 41 lives, what was expected to be a formal function to hand over compassionate appointment orders instead turned into a deeply personal encounter, with grief overwhelming both the bereaved families and the Chief Minister.
“When the Chief Minister met us, he broke down. He couldn’t speak for five minutes,” recalled Priyadarshini, who lost her brother in the September tragedy.
For the 32 beneficiaries gathered in Karur, the appointment orders represented more than government jobs. They were a recognition that the tragedy had not been forgotten.
Priyadarshini says her elder brother was like a father to her. During her maternity period, he looked after her and stood by her through difficult times. Remembering him brought tears to her eyes. Now pursuing an online MBA while raising her young child, she called the appointment “a new beginning”.
“I thank my brother Vijay for this,” she said, referring to the Chief Minister. She also requested a posting in another district. “The Chief Minister assured me he would do it,” she added.
Just a few metres away stood Nivedita, whose husband was among those killed in the stampede. Her words were few but carried the weight of months of grief.
“I miss my husband every day. This job will help my family. Thank you, Vijay Anna,” she said, clutching her appointment order.
Among the most heart-rending stories was that of Dhanalakshmi, who lost her 17-year-old son barely ten days after he had joined an engineering college.
“He wanted to become an aeronautical engineer,” she said. “That dream ended in just ten days.”
Fighting back tears, she said the compassionate appointment had given her family a way to survive.
“Vijay brother has done for me what my son would have done – ensuring my livelihood,” she said.
The Tamil Nadu government handed over jobs to 31 beneficiaries across Karur, Erode, Dindigul, Tiruppur and Salem districts in departments including Education, Revenue, Rural Development and Police. Another woman, whose family had no eligible member for appointment, was sanctioned Rs 10 lakh as compassionate financial assistance.
Earlier in the day, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court heard two public interest petitions seeking to stay the appointments, with the petitioners arguing that the jobs could influence witnesses in the CBI probe into the stampede.
The court declined to stay the appointments, observing that it would not interfere in a government policy decision. At the same time, it made clear that the appointments would remain temporary and subject to the final outcome of the case, while also impleading the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission as a respondent.
TVK had paid Rs 20 lakh as financial assistance to each of the 41 bereaved families, while the then DMK government had extended Rs 10 lakh each as ex gratia. But the compassionate appointments have also sparked political and legal criticism. The petitioners, along with one of the Left parties extending outside support to the TVK government, argue that such appointments bypass merit-based recruitment and undermine the role of the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission, besides raising concerns that they could influence witnesses while the CBI probe into the stampede is still underway.
For the families, however, the courtroom arguments seemed distant. Nine months after losing parents, children, spouses and siblings, many said nothing could replace those they had lost. But the jobs, they hope, will provide financial security and a measure of dignity as they rebuild lives forever altered by one of Tamil Nadu’s worst political rally tragedies.
