Thiruvananthapuram: For the first time in India, a pension scheme has been announced for the victims of political violence in Kerala by Delhi-based Mangalanm Swaminathan Foundation. As a first step for the noble cause, the most deserving 51 families, who lost their family members and livelihood and failed to get any kind of economic support from any corner, were selected for a monthly aid of Rs 2,000 each, Foundation Chairman and Managing Trustee Dr. R Bala Shanker,
who is also a senior journalist, researcher, and author of several books in the country, saíd on Sunday?
The scheme is part of creating public awareness against all kinds of political enmity in Kerala which is witnessing politically-sponsored violence, he added. Stating that the first list of 51 families includes the victims of political violence and the victims of the ‘1975- Emergency,’ he said many of them have been unable to bear their treatment expenses due to lack of money.
As a message of peace, tranquility, and well-being in the midst of the daily political conflicts and killings in Kerala, the Foundation has launched a monthly pension scheme for orphans who have lost their livelihoods as a result of such conflicts, he said. Stating that the pension scheme has no politics, he said there were no political, religious, or caste considerations in the selection process. Only the source of income lost to the family and its magnitude and the financial
hardship faced by the family- lies due to this violence were considered for the selection.
The politics of murder in Kerala became a social catastrophe in the 1980s. Since then, thousands of lives have been lost in political assassinations. As well as innumerable people were mutilated and their way of life was permanently shut down. According to police records, there have been more than 1,300 murders in Kerala in the last few years alone.
