Petchiammal upon receiving the Ration Card expressing her sincerest gratitude in a letter said, “I am immensely thankful to Blossom Trust who without expecting anything in return arranged for my Ration Card.”
Kalakudi Village, Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu: One of the most important elements of the Women and Child Empowerment Intervention of Viviid Emissions Reductions Universal Private Limited at Kalakudi and Kuruchikulam Villages of Tirunelveli District in Tamil Nadu is sensitizing the beneficiaries about all Government Sponsored Social Welfare Schemes. This is done through capacity building and sensitization workshops regularly conducted by the Implementation Agency – Blossom Trust. The work does not stop at this. Women and Children who are not getting the benefits that are rightfully due to them are also provided necessary hand-holding under the ongoing intervention.
The recent case in point is that of Mrs. Petchiammal a 42 year old widow from Kalakudi Village who lost her husband back in 2016 to blood cancer. They used to live in Tuticorin but had to move back to Kalakudi after her husband’s demise. Both her daughters 17 years and 14 years old are enrolled in the after-school assistive education classes that are held under the intervention supported by Viviid Emissions Reductions Universal Private Limited.
Petchiammal rolls Beedis to make her ends meet and occasionally also takes up opportunities under National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. The paltry sum that she receives in return is just not enough for the mother-daughters trio to survive. All these years she did not have a Ration Card from the Tamil Nadu Public Distribution System (PDS) under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). Her neighbour in Kalakudi had been supporting her with food grains as a goodwill gesture from time to time.
All hell had broken loose on Petchiammal and her daughters during the pandemic (particularly lockdown) when she and her daughters could not avail of the benefits of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana because she did not have a Ration Card. Her neighbour too was helpless as she herself did not have enough to survive.
Bala Vighnesh, the Intervention Manager at Tirunelveli District says, “Soon after the baseline survey when we learnt about the absolutely dire situation Petchiammal and her daughters were reeling under, we approached the Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department, Government of Tamil Nadu with the help of Government Functionaries in Manur Taluka and completed all the necessary paper work. We regularly followed up with the authorities and in about three months a Non Priority House Hold (NPHH) Smart Ration Card was issued in the last week of December. It took us almost three months from scratch to finish before the Ration Card could be issued. Petchiammal heaved a sigh of relief upon receiving the document from the Ration Card Section of the Revenue Office at Manur. We will yet again approach the Authorities for issuing her a Priority House Hold Ration Card which ideally should have been granted to her considering that she fulfils all eligibility criteria.”
Petchiammal upon receiving the Ration Card expressing her sincerest gratitude in a letter said, “I am immensely thankful to Blossom Trust who without expecting anything in return arranged for my Ration Card.”
Talking to the Correspondent of India CSR Petchiammal reiterated that, “I thank the CSR Team working here in Kalakudi with whose help neither my daughters nor I shall ever go hungry to bed now onward. This is truly my much needed New Year gift.”
Speaking to our Correspondent over phone, Puneet Katyal, Chief Executive Officer, Viviid Emissions Reductions Universal Private Limited said, “Getting a Ration Card was Petchiammal’s Right- Her Social Welfare Entitlement. We only sensitized her along with many other women at Kalakudi and Kuruchikulam Villages and thereafter facilitated the process for expeditious issuance of the Public Distribution System Card for her. Likewise we have stepped up our advocacy efforts with various Departments of Tamil Nadu Government to ensure that the women and children in Kalakudi and Kuruchikulam are not bereft of the very many social welfare benefits that they rightfully deserve. We are working steadfastly one woman, one child at a time so that no one is left behind. We are serving the Planet, so are we serving the People and their communities dwelling in the vicinity of Clean Energy Projects of our Clients. This congruently resonates with our Overarching Corporate Ethos of enunciating path-breaking Innovations in Credible Carbon Portfolio Management, Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainable Development and Allied Areas for our vast Global Clientele in an endeavour to optimize Shared Prosperity for all Stakeholders, Leaving no one behind!!!”