Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

A meaningful Independence Day

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Jayasree and her husband, a coolie worker hailing from Kooralassery near Balaramapuram, were managing a precarious hand-to-mouth existence for themselves and their two children when fate dealt a cruel blow. Stricken with cancer, Jayasree is today confined to bed leaving the family struggling to find the means for prolonged medical treatment.

Hailing from an economically backward Scheduled Caste family at Kazhakkuttam, S. Suseela, a widow, was devastated when her daughter, Sumi, a pre-degree student, was diagnosed with SLE Poluneuropathy disease. With no earning member in the family, Suseela had almost given up on life.

Santhi, a B.Sc. second year student, and her sister, Sarada, studying in the tenth standard, were unsure of how to continue their studies. Their father, T. Pitchumani, is an asthma patient while their mother is bed-ridden with paralysis. With the family eking out a bare existence, the two children were resigned to discontinuing their studies.

For these stricken families, help came from an unexpected quarter. They were among the beneficiaries of a financial assistance scheme launched by the Kshema Social Circle of the State Bank of Travancore.

The assistance was distributed at a function organised at the zonal office of the bank here on Wednesdy as part of the Independence Day celebrations.

The list of needy persons who were selected for the scheme included victims of cancer, asthma, diabetes, paralytic problems and other ailments.

Kshema also gave a helping hand to people from the lower strata of society for rehabilitation and repairs to thatched huts. Five students whose families were incapable of supporting them were selected for educational assistance. Study materials were also distributed to students from indigent families.

On the occasion, Kshema also gave financial assistance to M. Radhakrishna Pillai, patron of the Matha Vanitha Charitable Society, Pettah, for providing free noon meals to the destitute patients in ward no. 9 of the General Hospital on the first day of every Malayalam month.

V. Prabhakaran Nair, General Manager, State Bank of Travancore, Zonal Office, hoisted the national flag and distributed financial assistance and study materials to the needy.

R. Chandrasenan, president, ABOA- SBT; A. Krishnakumar, Thiruvananthapuram zonal secretary, SBT- AIBEA; Kshema Social Circle leader N. Subramania Iyer, deputy leader R. Meera and former leader K. Mahadevan addressed the gathering.

The choral group of the bank’s zonal office sang patriotic songs.

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