Cheques issued by Mariyammal Fireworks licencee and lessees to family members of 27 workers, who were killed in a gory fire accident reported on February 12, have bounced because of insufficient funds.
The kith and kin lodged a complaint with Virudhunagar Collector R. Kannan, seeking the district administration to initiate criminal proceedings on cheque bounce charge against the owner/lessees to ensure that the compensation of ₹4.50 lakh each reached them.
According to Virudhunagar District Fireworks and Match units Workers’ Association, affiliated to Centre of Indian Trade Unions, the accident at Achankulam near Sattur was a direct fallout of flouting of safety norms and illegally leasing out the fireworks unit. Its district secretary M. Mahalakshmi said that revenue officials received the cheques from the owner/lessees and after proper verification of the legal heirs handed over the post-dated cheques.
“Even then, we had objected to issuing cheques dated March 5 fearing that the owners/lessee could cheat the family members of the kin. We also wanted the revenue officials to take responsibility for the issue,” she said.
However, the officials were keen only to make the family members take over the bodies in order to solve the problem then.
Stating that the family members were illiterate and poor, and that they could not take legal measures against the defaulting persons, the association sought the intervention of the Collector to take legal course and ensure that the families are suitably compensated.
