Nearly a year after the Karur stampede that killed 41 people during a Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) election rally, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay met the victims’ families and handed over government job appointment orders to eligible dependants as part of the state’s rehabilitation measures.One of the beneficiaries, Dhanlaxmi, said Vijay became emotional on seeing the families’ grief. “Seeing all of us crying deeply moved him, and he too became emotional,” she said, adding that she had been offered a job at the Superintendent of Police (SP) office.The visit came even as the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court considered a challenge to the government’s decision to grant permanent government jobs to the bereaved families, with the court directing that temporary appointments be offered for now. Addressing the families, Vijay described the September 27 stampede as an “unhealed wound” and said his government was committed to preventing such tragedies. A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the incident is ongoing.Speaking at a function held at Atlas Arena, Vijay said the pain of the tragedy had never left him.”No matter how great a height a man reaches in life, certain pains and wounds in the heart cannot be forgotten. More than anything else, the pain and wound that affected me the most is the Karur incident,” Vijay said. Recounting the events leading up to the tragedy, the Chief Minister said his statewide “People’s Meet” outreach programme was aimed at interacting directly with the public and understanding their concerns.Vijay questioned the police’s handling of the Karur rally, saying they should have warned his party if the crowd had become unmanageable and could have cancelled the event. “Who is responsible for all this? Who gave the orders?” he asked, adding that he had trusted and thanked the police, never expecting the tragedy.As part of the state’s rehabilitation measures, Vijay distributed compassionate appointment orders to one member from 32 of the 41 affected families at the Karur District Collectorate office. The appointments were made according to the educational qualifications of the beneficiaries.One of the beneficiaries, Nivethika, told ANI, “Anna Vijay was deeply moved when he saw our grief. He shared our pain and comforted us. I have been offered a Junior Assistant position. My husband passed away, and I have two children. This job will be a great support for their future and our livelihood. Anna Vijay will take care of the court cases. I am truly happy and grateful to have received this job. It gives me hope and confidence to move forward with my children’s future”The visit came after the Tamil Nadu government had announced an ex gratia payment of Rs 10 lakh to each bereaved family following the tragedy, while TVK provided an additional compensation of Rs 20 lakh.Nearly a year after the tragedy, Vijay also used his first visit to Karur since the incident to train his guns on the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), accusing the opposition party of attempting to gain “political mileage” from the stampede.The actor-turned politician who romped to power by winning 108 seats, further alleged that he had been prevented from visiting Karur following the incident.He also alleged that corruption worth crores of rupees had existed across government departments in the past, while asserting that people now believed bribery and corruption in government offices had reduced significantly under his administration.
