When 70-year-old Thirupathi of Palayamkottai submitted a petition seeking old age pension to Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on July 6, she would not have dreamt that her plea would be answered within a week.
As Mr. Palaniswami was on his way to Tenkasi on July 6 to participate in a function organised to welcome a group of Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam cadre, led by former Law Minister Esakki Subiah, he was given a rousing reception at Palayamkottai. Even as he was being received by the ruling party cadre, Mrs. Thirupathi, who was standing close to the dais with the petition, managed to submit it directly to the Chief Minister as she narrated her ordeals to the police and the party office-bearers there.
After her daughter, a widow, passed away, Mrs. Thirupathi, a domestic help, had to take care of her two school-going granddaughters. As she felt that the old age pension of ₹1,000 would be of great help to her and her granddaughters, she submitted a petition to the Chief Minister, which was forwarded to Collector Shilpa Prabhakar Satish.
The Collector, following mandatory verification, cleared the petition. The order was handed over to Mrs. Thirupathi by Mr. Palaniswami on Friday morning in the presence of Ms. Shilpa.
The Chief Minister had come to attend a wedding reception in Palayamkottai on Thursday evening and had stayed overnight at Thoothukudi.
The Chief Minister also handed over sewing machine to Subbulakshmi of Kokkirakulam and hand-pedalled tricycle to physically challenged Venkateshwaran.
