Blast from past for Health Secretary

He catches up with people of Natham village

June 17, 2021 12:50 am | Updated 02:55 am IST - Chennai

Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan with people of Natham village, near Kumbakona

Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan with people of Natham village, near Kumbakona

It was a detour, but for Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan, it was a blast from the past. On a tour of the delta districts to oversee pandemic control activities, he took some time off his schedule to catch up with people from his past.

He made a quick stop at Natham village near Kumbakonam. The people of Natham were once close to him, he said, because 13 of the 94 children who died in the horrific Kumbakonam school fire in 2004 hailed from this village.

Dr. Radhakrishnan was then the Collector of Thanjavur district, and oversaw relief and rehabilitation efforts for the families of the children who died in the fire accident. “I had a touching meeting with some of the parents of the children, including the mother of Muruganandam, who perished in the fire. My family — my wife Krithika and son Arvind — used to accompany me on my visits to the homes of the children. In one instance, Muruganandam’s grandmother mistook my son for her grandson, and Arvind managed to persuade her to drink something as she had not eaten for days after the tragedy,” he said.

He further shared his joy at finding out that they still remembered his visits and fondly enquired about his family. “Grandmothers came up to me to tell me what happened to their families during all these years, and kindly asked after my wife and son, whom they remembered as well.”

He urged the health team to organise a vaccination camp in the area.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.