TIRUPATTUR: Collector D Baskara Pandian turned good Samaritan when he rescued three school-going children of a couple addicted to illicit liquor. Sources revealed that he also admitted the eldest to a government hostel and warned tough action if the couple did not reform soon.
On hearing about a couple Murugan and Visalakshi (names changed) of the Annanagar area in Madapalli village on the outskirts of Tirupattur town, who were always in a drunken stupor resulting in their children stopping to go to school, Baskara Pandian visited the house.
He was shocked to find totally unhygienic conditions where the children (2 girls and a boy) lived. “There were clothes and food items scattered everywhere with personal and family hygiene being totally absent,” the Collector told DT Next.
“The locals said what I have told was true, a relative who lived in the village provided some food to the eldest girl while the other two children were mostly left to go hungry,” he added.
“There was no electricity in their house, the children had dropped out of school and the drunkard parents turned abusive when intervened and so everybody had given up on them,” he added.
When he made inquiries about the eldest girl who was a Class 9 student, she expressed a wish to study so Baskara Pandian took her to the local AD student’s hostel in his official car and got her admitted.
He then told the parents he would help them get employed with whatever skill they had and also warned them that if they did not reform he would admit them to a government de-addiction centre.
“I will wait for a week and then initiate whatever action is necessary,” the Collector said.