Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has sanctioned a compensation package that ensures housing, financial aid and higher education to Shalini, a young girl who was recently crippled in a road accident on the national highway near Kakka Thoppu in Dindigul district.
Details of the solatium were announced and handed over to Ms. Shalini by Karur Collector T. Prabhushankar on Tuesday at a press conference.
Hailing from Eluthupparai village in Karur district, 17-year-old Ms. Shalini’s father Govindaraj is a painter and her mother Dhanalakshmi is a daily wage earner. Ms. Shalini studied up to Class 10 in a nearby government school, and later shifted to her grandmother’s home in Kasipalayam in Dindigul district to complete her studies.
On September 19, Ms. Shalini’s legs were severed when she got caught in a vehicle collision between a two-wheeler and a car while trying to cross the national highway near Kakka Thoppu, Dindigul district.
Crippled for life, Ms. Shalini had appealed to V. Senthilbalaji, Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise, for assistance through the office of the Karur Collector.
On the recommendation of Mr. Senthilbalaji, the young woman’s family will be housed in Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board colony in Senapiratti village, with the State government paying the ₹1.88 lakh deposit for the facility. In addition to monthly assistance of ₹1,000 for her family, Ms. Shalini will also be separately eligible for ₹1,000 aid as a differently abled person.
Ms. Shalini will pursue a Bachelor’s degree of her choice in Government Arts College, Thanthonimalai, Karur. Her family has been offered a government authorised loan in case they wish to start a small business.
Ms. Shalini was emotionally overwhelmed by the generous compensation offer, and thanked the government officials for their help.
District Revenue Officer M. Liaqat, District Rural Development Agency Planning Director Manthirachalam, and other senior officials were present during the press meeting.
