Coming to the rescue of an autorickshaw driver, the Madras High Court has directed the commissioner of a local body here to sanction assistance to him under the ‘Moovalur Ramamirtha Ammaiyar Memorial Scheme’ for the wedding of his daughter.
Justice N. Paul Vasanthakumar set aside an order of the Commissioner, St. Thomas Mount Panchayat Union, rejecting the petitioner’s request seeking assistance under the scheme in which Rs. 25,000 and a four gram gold coin for making ‘Thirumangalyam’ were being given to poor families.
To get the assistance, the family’s income should not exceed Rs. 24,000 per annum and the bride should have completed 18 years of age at the time of wedding. Only one girl from a family was eligible for the benefit under the scheme.
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M. Shankar’s case was that he was struggling in life due to poor income. He submitted an application on October 27 last year to the Commissioner along with the wedding invitation of his daughter S. Devi seeking assistance under the scheme. The wedding had been fixed for November 16 last year. The official asked him to produce the income certificate within a week. He got the certificate only on February 22 this year and submitted it. But, no action was taken.
The petitioner said he submitted a representation to the Chief Minister’s Special Cell, Kancheepuram District Collector and the Director of Social Welfare in November this year. He received an order from the Commissioner on November 28 stating that as he did not produce the income certificate before January this year, his request was being rejected. Hence, the present writ petition.
Allowing the plea, Mr. Justice Paul Vasanthakumar said the submission of the income certificate was in continuation of the application submitted.
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Therefore, the application could not be said to be a belated one, particularly when Mr. Shankar satisfied the conditions stipulated under the scheme.
The Judge directed the Commissioner to sanction the marriage assistance within two weeks.