Chief Minister M.K. Stalin tried his hands at ‘silambam’ as he was proceeding to attend a function held on the outskirts of Tenkasi on Wednesday. It began after he happened to meet a group of girl students exhibiting their proficiency in the martial art while welcoming him in a small village.
A girl student, Prema of Kazhuneerkulam near Alangualm, who is living with her labourer parents in a leaky thatched shed, narrated her family’s ordeals during the ‘Tamil Nadu that excels in education’ event, presided over by Mr. Stalin, in Chennai on September 25. Within the next few hours, the girl’s family received the dream gift — a free house.
District Collector A.K. Kamal Kishore, who met the family the same night, handed over the order for the free house to the parents of Prema.
On Wednesday, since Mr. Stalin was traversing via Kazhuneerkulam to attend a function in Tenkasi, he remembered to make a stopover at this village, located about 20 km from the function venue and inspected the house under construction now. He also had a brief interaction with Prema’s parents.
A group of students in the village accorded the CM a rousing welcome with their ‘silambam’. Getting down from his vehicle on seeing the girls effortlessly swirling the sticks in air, Mr. Stalin too swirled the stick and shook hands with them before leaving for the function.
The CM also visited Amar Seva Sangam in Ayikudi, an organisation serving persons with disabilities for 45 years, headed by S. Ramakrishnan, founder, and S. Sankara Raman, promoter co-chairman and secretary.
During the visit, the CM was introduced to four physically challenged ITI students from Amar Seva Sangam, who have secured the national ranks in the recently held all-India ITI examinations in the open category.
He also met Ms. Arunmozhi, a student of Amar Seva Sangam who was trained and sponsored by the institution and recently won the bronze medal at the World Para Powerlifting Championship held in Egypt. Mr. Stalin received a memorandum detailing Amar Seva Sangam’s future development plans.
During his visit, the CM announced the appointment of the Tenkasi Collector as the Chairperson of the Advisory Board of Amar Seva Sangam.