Latest news with #Madurai-based
The Hindu
19 hours ago
- The Hindu
‘Provide protection to activist under Witness Protection Scheme'
Principal District Judge S. Sivakadatcham has ordered protection to Madurai-based activist M. Gnanasekaran of Vadipatti who was facing threat from quarry operators. Gnanasekaran participated in protests against illegal quarry operations around Kachaikatti in Vadipatti. The PDJ ordered that protection be provided to the activist under the Witness Protection Scheme. He is a witness in the case. The judge ordered regular patrolling around the house of the witness and also installation of security devices, including CCTV cameras and alarm. The judge ordered that escort be provided to the witness to and from court and to either provide a government vehicle or State-funded conveyance for hearing. The judge instructed the witness to inform the police station concerned if he wants to go out of his village. The Judicial Magistrate, Vadipatti, was directed to dispose of the case as expeditiously as possible.
The Hindu
6 days ago
- General
- The Hindu
GRH doctors perform cochlear implant surgery on 238 children in nine years
A total of 238 children have successfully undergone cochlear implant surgery at Government Rajaji Hospital here in the last nine years, a Right to Information Act reply has revealed. According to A. Veronica Mary, a Madurai-based social activist, who filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) with the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court seeking cochlear implant surgery at GRH, said that the surgery would at least cost ₹10 lakh if done in a private hospital. As the procedure involves surgically inserting an electronic device into the inner ear (cochlea) to restore hearing for individuals with severe to profound hearing loss, it would be great help for children who have lost hearing in the birth or during their childhood, she added. The court, learning of its importance, that too in a government hospital in a place like Madurai, which could serve many children from rural areas across the district and many southern districts, ordered the government to consider providing the surgery at GRH, said Ms. Veronica Mary. Following that, in 2016, the surgery was successfully conducted on two children at GRH. And, in that year itself, an additional 34 children benefited from the procedure, she stated. The RTI, which was sought to learn about the success rate of the surgery in the hospital, has shown how it has been benefiting the children from the district and other nearby areas, she added. Further, she noted that though the number of surgeries has seen a downfall in years between, it had still helped a total of 228 children. The surgery, which has been rendered to 36 people in 2016, has been done to 25 in 2017, 32 in 2018, 39 in 2019, 8 in 2020, 23 in 2021, 38 in 2022, 16 in 2023, 10 in 2024 and one in 2025, the RTI data said. As about two in 1,000 children are congenitally affected with hearing loss in the country, as per the available studies, A. Alaguvadivel, Professor and Head of ENT department, Madurai Medical College, said that the treatment was essential and helpful for them. The procedure could be done only within 2-6 years, he said. Many parents, especially from rural areas, were hesitant to opt for surgery to address the issue, but by the time they were convinced for the surgery most of the children would have cross the age limit, he noted. People think of hearing aid as a potential option, but the accuracy achieved through surgery could not be expected from a hearing aid, Dr. Alaguvadivel said. Further, post-surgery, the children would have to undergo Auditory-Verbal Therapy (AVT), to attain the full benefit of the surgery, he added. While they would be asked to visit the hospital at least twice a week for two years for the therapy after the surgery, many would not continue with the therapy. Due to that, the full benefit could be experienced by the children, he added. Many were hesitant to undergo the surgery due to the practical complications attached with the procedure, but he noted that the doctors, after identifying the issue during the screening which would be done following the birth, would elaborate the parents on the perks of undergoing the surgery. L. Arul Sundaresh Kumar, Dean, GRH, said, 'The surgery was just 40% of the treatment, the rest lies in the hands of the parents who train them and bring them to the hospital for auditory visual therapy.' 'There has been a paradigm shift in the availability of options of communication for people with hearing problems. While it started with just a sign language as a means of communication, it had evolved to the level of surgery and also therapies,' he added. As the equipment used in surgery was same for all people, the success depends on the post-surgery therapy for language understanding, Dr. Arul Sundaresh Kumar said.
Time of India
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Caste violence victims insist on separate law
Madurai: Gaps and delays in police and judicial processes are leading to low conviction rate in SC/ST Act cases, according to survivors and family members of victims of caste-based crimes who attended a consultative meeting in Madurai on Sunday. The meeting, organised by Evidence, a Madurai-based NGO working for dalit rights, put forth suggestions to bring down such crimes in Tamil Nadu . Kausalya, anti-caste activist and survivor of a caste killing, said such crimes need to be addressed before they escalate. "When a couple has an inter-caste love marriage, they are immediately faced with a lot of mental challenges. There have been cases of the bride being kidnapped or restrained. These too need to be addressed as caste crimes. The state govt is adamant about not framing a separate law for honour killings," she said. Evidence executive director A Kathir said there are numerous hurdles in SC/ST Act cases, right from the filing of FIR. "Over 7,000 SC/ST Act cases are pending in court, and Madurai tops the list. Such cases on an average take over five years. Also, there are convictions only in around 3% of these cases. That too, mainly because the crimes committed were heinous," he said. The mother of M Alagendran, 21, of Virudhunagar, who was murdered by a gang from another SC community in June 2024, said her son was killed due to a love affair with a girl, by her relatives. "However, this case will not come under the SC/ST Act as the victim and accused are from different communities under SC. But, it is still an honour killing, which is why we need a separate law," said A Kathir. He said the State Level High Power Vigilance and Monitoring Committee constituted under the chief minister is not functioning effectively, especially at the grassroots level. An award for best service for social change was presented to film director Era Saravanan during the event, for his contributions in highlighting and fighting against caste discrimination.
The Hindu
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
‘Complete disciplinary proceedings against officials involved in Thoothukudi firing'
People's Watch, a Madurai-based Human Rights organisation, has urged the DMK government to complete the pending disciplinary proceedings against 17 revenue and police officials involved in the police firing at anti-Sterlite protesters in Thoothukudi on May 22, 2018. People's Watch Executive Director Henri Tiphagne urged the government to place the officials under suspension. The DMK government should remind itself of its electoral promises made in 2019, 2021, and 2024 to punish all those responsible for the killings. People's Watch demanded that the government immediately intervene, asking for closure of the CBI investigation entrusted by the Madras High Court and hand over the probe to be carried out in a timely manner, and complete it before the 2026 elections, through highly competent police officials, preferably monitored by a highly reputed senior police officer from outside Tamil Nadu and comprising sufficient senior officers of the rank of DGP, since several IPS officers and IAS officers had been found responsible for the killings and injuries caused. Justice Aruna Jagadeesan Commission of Inquiry, which probed the firing incident, had submitted its report to the government in 2022. The Commission named 17 officers from the rank of IPS to constables, as well as from the District Collector to the Deputy Tahsildars as responsible, he said. The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly adopted the report in May 2022 and consequential orders were passed by the government. Despite three years having passed since the report had been submitted, on the seventh anniversary, disciplinary proceedings against the police and the revenue authorities were still pending. No single official had been held guilty even in the disciplinary proceedings, let alone initiating criminal prosecution that necessarily had to follow, he said.
The Hindu
07-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
When a mob of 300 caste Hindus attacked SC settlement, why only 12 were held, asks NGO
'When a mob of more than 300 Most Backward Community people rampaged through the Scheduled Caste people's settlement to destroy their properties, why only 12 of them were arrested?,' asked Kathir, founder of Evidence, a Madurai-based NGO. Condemning the attack on the SC community at Vadakadu in Pudukkottai district earlier this week, Mr. Kathir, at a press meet here on Wednesday, said the attack allegedly started over the ownership of Adaikkalam Katha Ayyanar Temple on a poramboke land. 'Though court has ruled in favour of the SC people, the other side claims ownership of the temple,' he said, adding the issue ended in denial of access to the SC people in the rituals of Muthumariamman Temple administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department. When they were questioned about the injustice, the caste Hindu people from different villages joined hands to attack the SC people, Mr. Kathir alleged. During the fact-finding visit, Evidence team learned that SC community women were subjected to verbal abuse and casteist slurs by the perpetrators. 'The District Collector and Superintendent of Police should have inspected the location and spoken to the victims, but they refrained from doing so,' he said. Though Minister of Law S. Regupathy, accompanied by SP Abhishek Gupta, visited the affected houses, the SP should have restored the villagers' faith in the police, he stated. Condemning the police's hurried statement that it was alcohol-induced violence, Mr. Kathir wondered how they could divert people's attention with such a misleading statement. 'By denying the caste angle to the attack what are the police trying to prove?. When the repeated caste-motivated violence in the State has exposed how deep the practice remains in the people's mind, why do they want to hide it?,' he questioned. When women were harassed and a portrait of Ambedkar was defaced, the police in their FIR should also include sections 3(1)(wi) (intentionally touches a woman belonging to an SC or an ST, knowing that she belongs to an SC or an ST, when such act of touching is of a sexual nature and is without the recipient's consent); 3(1)(wii) (uses words, acts or gestures of a sexual nature towards a woman belonging to an SC or an ST, knowing that she belongs to an SC or an ST); 3(1)(t) (destroys, damages or defiles any object generally known to be held sacred or in high esteem by members of the ST or the ST); and 3(2)(va) (commits any offence specified in the Schedule, against a person or property, knowing that such person is a member of an SC or an ST or such property belongs to such member, shall be punishable with such punishment as specified under the IPC (45 of 1860) for such offences and shall also be liable to fine) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Also, as per the Act, the perpetrators should each be fined ₹5 lakh, he stressed.
