A five-member team from the National Commission for Scheduled Castes on Wednesday visited Karunapuram, the epicentre of the hooch tragedy in Kallakurichi town.
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The team was led Chairman Kishore Makwana and comprised members Vaddepalli Ramachander and Love Kush Kumar; Sanmeet Kaur, Deputy Inspector-General of Police; and Dinesh Vyas, Deputy Director. The team interacted with Karunapuram residents on the deaths. It also visited those admitted at the Kallakurichi Government Medical College and Hospital and convened a meeting at the Collectorate.
Speaking to reporters, Mr. Makwana said the sale of hooch had been prevalent at Karunapuram for long and no action was taken by the police and the authorities concerned despite repeated complaints. A similar tragedy occurred last year and had the State government been on alert, the deaths at Karunapuram could have been averted. The lax attitude of the government resulted in the tragedy. Most of the victims were the breadwinners and belonged to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, he said.
Mr. Makwana also called upon the State government to support the education of the victims’ children. It should also take stringent action to prevent such an incident in future. The Commission would submit its report to the Centre to ensure justice to the victims, he said.