[1]When students across the country observed Teacher’s Day to mark the birth anniversary of former President S. Radhakrishnan, about 300 students living in Kakkanji Nagar near ICF bus terminus staged a novel protest seeking restoration of power supply to their homes.
Over 2000 families in Kakkanji Nagar had been living without electricity since August 28 after the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited’s (Tangedco) disconnected the “illegal” power supply to them.
About 1000 people, including 300 students, took part in the protest held at Memorial Hall and urged Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to order restoration of power supply to their hamlets.
The students also signed a letter seeking power connections to help them continue their studies.
While most of the breadwinners in the slum are daily wage earners, there are over 600 students living here studying in various primary and high schools nearby.
“Our quarterly examinations are nearing and we do not know how to prepare for it without power supply,” said S. Kalaivani, a Class VI student of Singarampillai Girls Higher Secondary School.
Most of the students complained that they could not sleep properly without fans. “I can’t sleep at night and in the morning I feel very sleepy in class and am not able to concentrate on my studies,” said S. Sathish Kumar, a Class VII student of Chennai High School, Ayanavaram.
The students are not comfortable studying under kerosene lanterns or candles either. “We are afraid of snakes, particularly after sunset when our homes are dark. We chased away two snakes from our houses last week alone,” said S. Sona, a Class IX student.
Mr M. Perumal, secretary of Tamil Nadu Kudisai Valvoor Sangam, demanded that power should be supplied to Kakkanji Nagar until the Slum Clearance Board constructs the promised tenements for them in Ambattur.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/protest9jpgcropdisplayjpg-740