Villagers who come to the Collectorate to get their grievances redressed are forced to spend money for drafting their petitions. So, they sought volunteers to assist them in writing the petitions.
Every Monday, grievances redress meeting is held at the Collectorate and Collector K. Maharabushanam receives about 300 to 450 petitions from people.
Most of the petitioners request free house site pattas, ration card, removal of encroachments from their land, besides disputes, non-receipt of old-age pension and seeking action against troublemakers.
Villagers, who are mostly poor and illiterates, and come from various places in the district, have to submit their grievances in writing to the Collector.
Hence, they were forced to depend on individual writers who squat under the shade of trees near the Collectorate.
They charge anywhere between Rs. 20 to Rs. 50 depending upon the draft of the letter and also sell printed application forms required for various purposes.
Their service is available on all working days with Monday turning to be a busy day for them. Ten writers could be seen on Mondays whereas only a few writers would be present on the remaining days.
K. Munusamy (55) from Karumandurai hills said that he had walked for seven km from his village that is inaccessible by road to catch a bus and reach here.
Hence, again spending Rs. 30 for writing a petition is a big thing for him.
“If someone helps by writing the petition, I can save the money and have the morning food,” he added.
In many of the districts in the State, college students and NSS students assist the petitioners in writing their grievances, free of cost.
However, the Salem district has made no arrangements for drafting petitions so far.
