It was a poignant moment on Thursday when Chief Minister Jayalalithaa kissed a baby girl, whose father was one of the 20 woodcutters from Tamil Nadu killed in a firing in Seshachalam forest in Andhra Pradesh during an alleged encounter last April.
Five women related to the victims received appointment orders personally from Ms. Jayalalithaa at the Secretariat on Thursday.
Of them, three women had come with their infants. Moved by their plight, Ms. Jayalalithaa touched the cheek of a baby girl which looked surprised as she kissed her on the head. The other babies looked bemused.
It was a goodwill gesture on the part of the government to give jobs to the suffering family members, most of whom were young widows. They were appointed as assistant cooks, noon meal organisers and anganwadi assistants.
According to an official release, 20 persons from Tamil Nadu were shot dead in the Seshachalam forests near Tirupati on April 7. Immediately, the then Chief Minister wrote to his Andhra Pradesh counterpart saying that the killing should have been avoided, strongly recommended an independent enquiry into the shootout and sought action against the police personnel if it was a case of rights violations.
After taking steps to bring back the bodies, the government granted a solatium of Rs. 3 lakh to each of the families of victims. As the families had requested the Chief Minister to give them government jobs considering their socio-economic status, the Chief Minister gave the appointment orders on Thursday.
