Latest news with #R.Sukumar
The Hindu
5 days ago
- General
- The Hindu
Children return to school after summer vacation; Speaker, Collector receive students with free notebooks, uniform
Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker M. Appavu on Monday received the students of Valliyoor Government Higher Secondary School with notebooks and free uniforms as they returned to their school after the summer vacation. He said over two lakh students in the 1,195 government and government-aided schools in the district would receive the free notebooks and uniforms. Since the Tamil Nadu Government was keen on eradicating dropouts and encouraging the children to pursue their higher education after passing Plus Two, various welfare schemes like 'Puthumai Penn' and 'Thamizh Puthalvan' schemes had been introduced for giving the monthly assistance of ₹1,000 to them. Free breakfast scheme had been implemented in the government and the government-aided schools. 'Smart Classrooms' were being created in all government schools to make teaching and learning easier. Spoken English class had become part of the government schools. 'The children, especially the students from rural poor families, should make use of these welfare schemes to academically excel and come-up in life,' the Speaker said. District Collector R. Sukumar appealed to the children to respect and abide by the teachers and concentrate only on their studies. Chief Educational Officer M. Sivakumar and District Educational Officer Sai Subbulakshmi were present. Teachers of various schools received their students, especially the primary school children, returning to the school after the vacation with chocolates, flowers and sandal paste.
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Villagers oppose license given for stone quarrying near their hamlet, cultivable lands
Opposing the license given for stone quarrying within two-km from their area, a group of villagers from Thathanoothu near here submitted petition to District Collector R. Sukumar on Monday. The petitioners from Thaathanooththu near here on Tirunelveli – Madurai Highway said their hamlet with over 300 Scheduled Caste families were relying upon farming and cattle rearing, while a few more women from landless families were being hired under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme and as farmhands. However, the Department of Mines had given license for mining stones from the place close to the cultivable lands of Thaathanooththu village. The explosives being used in an uncontrolled manner in the quarry have robbed off tranquillity of the village. Besides decimating farming operations of the agriculturists raising vegetables and cotton in their fields with unseasonal rain and well water, the stone quarry had permanently ended peaceful living in the village. 'Without eliciting the opinion of the public, the officials have given license to the stone quarry for reasons best known to everyone, as we all know how powerful the quarry owners are. As per the existing law, quarrying license can be given if the quarrying site is located 300 meters away from human habitations. Moreover, the norm of the Department of Mines also allows the giving of license for quarrying in a spot just 7.50 meters away from a patta land. So, both the norms should be scrapped as these regulations will kill farming and the villages located nearby. Hence, the license given for quarrying near Thaathanooththu should be cancelled, and the existing norms paving way for issue of license for quarrying near villages should be scrapped permanently or at least modified,' said V. Sudalaimani, who led the villagers. Members of the Coordination Committee of Tamil Nadu All Farmers' Associations submitted a petition against the Centre's recent decision to modify the norms pertaining to gold loans. The petitioners, led by D. Abraham, Tirunelveli district president of the Association, said the agriculturists, who had already been hit hard by vagaries of nature, were unable to repay their gold loan and redeem the gold pledged for raising the loans. The recently announced modifications in the norms for raising gold loans would land the farmers in debt trap, and hence, these unrealistic modifications should be withdrawn permanently, said the farmers. On behalf of the Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam, the party's ward seven secretary A. Mano Stanly submitted a petition seeking action to check the anti-social activities happening in the anganwadi at Manakavalam Pillai Nagar after dusk. Since the rowdies gathering there consume liquor at night, the liquor bottles broken there by them would pose serious threat to the children coming to the anganwadi the next day. Hence, the officials concerned should take immediate steps to keep the rowdies away from the angavadis by constructing compound wall, he said.
The Hindu
30-05-2025
- The Hindu
Village panchayat heads asked to take effective steps to control street dogs population
District Collector R. Sukumar has exhorted the heads of village panchayats to take effective steps to control the street dogs population in the areas under their jurisdiction as the dog bite incidents are on the rise. In a meeting convened at the Collectorate on Thursday, he said more number of dog bite cases were being reported across the district as the stray dog population had increased manifold over the years. Hence, the village panchayat heads should take measures for controlling the stray dog population by performing animal birth control surgeries. Moreover, the owners of pet animals, especially dogs, should be instructed to get license for their animals after properly vaccinating them. Citing the recent accident in neighbouring Thoothukudi district in which a van plunged into a roadside open well, the Collector asked the panchayat heads to identify similar wells left in unprotected manner along the roads and also near the streets of their villages. 'If such wells are identified in your area, take immediate steps to erect fence around the wells or construct protective walls to ensure the safety of the public, especially the children,' Mr Sukumar said. The Collector appealed to the panchayat presidents to check completely the sale of banned tobacco products or other narcotic substances in their villages, particularly near the educational institutions. Moreover, drug abuse awareness messages should be shared with the villagers in sustained manner. The panchayat heads should ensure that there was no school dropouts in their area and follow the students from poor families to understand if they were pursing their higher studies in colleges after passing Plus Two public examination. He also asked the village panchayat heads to clear the tax arrears through diligent collection of taxes payable to the rural local body. Project Director of District Rural Development Agency Saravanan, Project Director of Mahalir Thittam Lakkuvan, Joint Director of Animal Husbandry Sankaranarayanan, Assistant Director of Village Panchayat Mohammed Shafi, District Child Protection Officer K. Arul Selvi and others participated.
The Hindu
20-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Career counselling session held in Palayamkottai
A career counselling session for students waiting to get admission in colleges after passing Plus Two was held at Sarah Tucker College in Palaymakottai on Tuesday. Chairing the event, Collector R. Sukumar said the students, after gauging their area of interest and strength, should choose their subjects in higher education with the guidance of experts, who had been roped in to address the participants and their parents. Apart from academically guiding the students to the right destinations, speakers at the event would also provide a fair idea about availing educational loans and scholarships being offered by the Central and State Governments. Dr. Sukumar also released a career guidance handbook detailing various courses being offered by different colleges and universities in arts, science, engineering, medicine, agriculture, architecture and law courses and welfare schemes of the government for students. District Revenue Officer M. Suganya, Chief Educational Officer Sivakumar, Dean, Anna University's Regional Office, Shenbaga Vinayagamurthy and others participated in the event. The next career guidance counselling session will be organised at KMP Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Maanur, on May 22. In Thoothukudi, District Collector K. Elambahavath inaugurated the career guidance centre on the Collectorate premises. This facility is being manned by 24 teachers for guiding the Plus Two students in choosing the right field and the group after understanding their marks scored in Plus Two, individual's strength and area of interest. These teachers will also call the parents or guardians of the school dropouts for bringing them back to the academic stream. The career guidance centre can be reached via 93846 97546 or 97888 59175.
The Hindu
19-05-2025
- The Hindu
Long wait for farmers for money after having sold paddy in DPCs
A group of farmers, who are waiting for more than two months for getting the money for the paddy they had sold in the Union government's direct procurement centre, submitted petition with District Collector R. Sukumar on Monday seeking his intervention. The petitioner farmers said the State government had opened 40 paddy Direct Procurement Centres (DPC) in Tirunelveli district and the union government had established 25 DPCs for procuring paddy from the farmers at the minimum support price fixed by the Centre. While the State is paying the amount in the farmers' bank accounts immediately after procuring the paddy at its DPC, the union government is yet to pay this amount even after two months for the paddy procured in the DPCs at Kuppaikurichi, Keezhapaattam, Mela Seval, Ariyakulam and Naththam. 'Consequently, around 300 farmers have been waiting indefinitely for the amount to be paid in their accounts by the Centre. Hence, the Collector should instruct the officials of the Union government to pay the paddy procurement amount to the farmers without further delay,' said Thalavai, one of the affected farmers. A group of students of a private training centre, who were allegedly cheated by the training institute after collecting the course fee from them also submitted petition to the Collector seeking his intervention to get back their money. The affected students said they all doing their graduation in various colleges, had joined a 6-months certificate programme in a private institute's branch at Vannarpet here for getting jobs with attractive salary. 'After collecting the fee from us, the training institute's branch manager and her associate gave us receipt for the course fee. Even as the course was about to start, the office was closed down without any intimation to the students. When we tried to contact them, their mobile phones remain switched off. As we contacted the head-office of this institute, we came to know that the branch manager and her associate had not paid our fee to the head-office. Hence, the Collector should help us to get our money back,' said P. Abdullah, one of the affected students, who is working with a private firm for paying the fee of ₹15,000 for two courses.
