Voices of the Community

Bose, 41 years, T. Veppankulam

Bose and his wife left their village, T. Veppankulam 22 years ago in search of work. Leaving behind his parents in their ancestral house in the village, they went and settled in a nearby town Thirupuvanam, where they started taking up construction labour work. They bore two children, a daughter and a son. They have got their daughter married recently and they were living with their son, who was an auto rickshaw driver. Six months ago, Bose lost his hearing partially when he fell down at his worksite, which handicapped him from taking up regular works.

As a result of lock-down declared due to corona outbreak, all of them have lost their jobs.

Without any work for more than two months and with no savings and stocks, they were unable to eke out their living and pay rent to their home. They decided and returned to their village finally. His wife has now registered under NREGS and he has started going for tree-cutting work with his son. When the farmers’ group in the village was asked to find a deserving families to support, they identified Bose’s family as one of the more vulnerable families that needed support.

Upon receiving a grocery kit from the CCD’s Farmer Producer Group, Bose said “It is heartening to see the support from villagers, it gives us confidence of surviving in the village itself and the groceries can last for a month”.