Tamil Nadu to pay education fees of bereaved student

Chennai: Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, who ordered officials to help bring the body of Krishnasamy to his native Thiruthuraipoondi, has announced a solatium of Rs 3 lakh to the bereaved family. He also announced that the Tamil Nadu government would bear the higher education expenses of Kasturi Mahalingam, the Neet candidate.

The Chief Minister conveyed his condolence to the kin of the deceased while announcing a solatium from the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund. The 46-year-old from Tamil Nadu had accompanied his son Kasturi Mahalingam, a doctor aspirant, to Ernakulam in Kerala for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Neet), died of a heart attack on Sunday owing to anxiety and extreme stress.
His son wrote his examination unaware of his father's sudden death. Kasturi Mahalingam was allotted a centre in Ernakulam for Neet-2018.

The government’s gesture of taking up the onus to bear the education expenses came following an appeal from the candidate’s mother. The appeal, Mr. Palaniswami said, was made by Krishnasamy's wife Barathi Mahadevi when he spoke to her over the phone and expressed his condolences. He said he had ordered officials to take appropriate steps to fund the education of the student.
 Expressing anguish over the incident, Mr. Palaniswami said a team of officials has been rushed to the neighbouring state to bring back the body. The deceased was a resident of Vilangudi village in the delta district of Tiruvarur, the CM said in an official release here on Sunday. Krishnasamy, who suffered cardiac arrest was admitted to a hospital where he died, Mr. Palaniswami said.

Evan as Krishnasamy breathed his last, his son continued to write the exam unaware of his father’s fate. “I have sent a team of Tamil Nadu officials to Ernakulam to assist Kasturi Mahalingam to take his father’s body home after he completes writing the NEET exam,” the CM said. Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan had spoken to her Kerala counterpart seeking assistance to bring Krishnasamy's body back to Tamil Nadu. Ernakulam District Collector Safirullah took swift steps to send Krishnasamy’s body to his native village.