Till 6 p.m. on Monday, assistance of Rs. 6.04 crore was distributed to petitioners who attended the Chief Minister’s mass contact programme in Kollam district. Of this, Rs.56.65 lakh was directly sanctioned by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to the beneficiaries.
The remaining Rs. 4.75 crore was sanctioned at the bureaucratic level.
Braving the downpour, more than 30,000 petitioners arrived at the venue to relate their grievances to the Chief Minister. Mr. Chandy met the petitioners from 8 a.m. Except for a short break in the afternoon, the Chief Minister continued meeting petitioners even at 7 p.m.
Fourteen-year-old Pradmesh, who is afflicted with brain tumour, was the first beneficiary at the programme.
The Chief Minister sanctioned Rs.50,000 for his treatment. Though his family had an APL ration card, Mr. Chandy cleared a BPL ration card for them.
The Chief Minister sanctioned Rs. 50,000 and pension for a young man from Neeravil, Azim Khan, who has been bedridden following skull damage suffered in a motorcycle accident.. Another Rs. 50,000 and a house was allocated to a labourer
Sathyan, a labourer who arrived there with his daughter Revathy who is afflicted with paralysis, was given assistance of Rs.50,000..
Anushree, 5, was sanctioned Rs. 50,000 for cardiac treatment. She arrived at the venue with her grandmother Jagadamma. Mr. Chandy announced that haemophilia patients in the State would be supplied medicines free of cost by the government throughout their life.
The Kudumbasree and Janasree missions cooked and provided food to the participants. A media team from Assam was also present at the venue to get first-hand information about Mr. Chandy’s mass contact programme, which has attracted national attention..
