Life convict’s rehabilitated son to join TATA Advanced Systems

He will be drawing around ₹25,000 a month at the entry level at the company which supplies heavy vehicles to Indian armed forces

When the frail-looking manual labourer from a dry region in the district was lodged in Palayamkottai Central Prison after he was awarded three life imprisonments in 2014 in connection with the murder of three persons over a family dispute, he left behind his wife, a farmhand, and two sons, aged 4 and 2. The woman became the family’s sole breadwinner, rolling beedis and working on agricultural fields on call.

Despite the threat of a possible retaliation by the families of the murdered persons, the woman decided to continue to live in her village with her sons who were admitted to the local government school. With the meagre income she was earning, the woman managed to run the family.

Life changed altogether for her elder son after he, as a 10-year-old boy, was spotted by Madurai-based Global Network for Equality and Justice, which is rehabilitating the children of life convicts by providing them scholarships.

After he completed Class VIII in the village school, the boy was admitted to a government-aided school in Tiruvallur district where he completed SSLC with 350 marks.

“Then I persuaded the administration of Ramakrishna Math’s Vivekananda Polytechnic in Mylapore, Chennai, to admit him in Diploma in Mechanical Engineering stream as diploma-holders can easily get employment. Even as he is about to complete his diploma in May this year, the boy has got placement in Hyderabad-based TATA Advanced Systems which supplies heavy vehicles to Indian armed forces. He will be drawing around ₹25,000 a month at the entry level,” said advocate Raja, founder, Global Network for Equality and Justice. The NGO is supporting the education of 64 college students, over 300 school students, all children of life convicts, and three children orphaned by Cyclone Okhi.

When the boy conveyed the news to his mother over the phone, she was jubilant that after all these years of suffering she had endured, her son had come up to support her. As she shared this information with her husband during her visit to the prison, he could not control his tears.

“During one of his paroles, my father told me to study well to bail out the family from poverty and I made the promise to him. I am happy that I have fulfilled the promise. I will support my younger brother’s education. He should become an engineer,” says the boy, who has plans to join Bachelor of Engineering course with the permission of his employer.