For 14-year-old Prashant world has turned upside down within a span of five days. Hailing from a weavers’ family at Penukonda in Anantapur district, he lost both his parents to COVID-19 infection within a gap of three days (May 16 and 19).
His father K. Janardhan, who continued the family profession of weaving and also worked as a reporter for a media house, lost his wife Anitha on May 16 despite taking care of her in all possible ways.
Even before the father-son duo could come to terms with her loss, COVID-19 struck again infecting Janardhan this time. He turned positive on May 18. He was admitted to a private hospital in Anantapur and passed away on Wednesday. The family has six handlooms which served as the main source of income. Janardhan used to play a key role in getting orders and employing people to weave Dharmavaram silk saris. Too young to shoulder the responsibility, Prashant is in a dazed state now, staring at a bleak future.
The treatment costs of Janardhan and Anita wiped out the small savings of the family and the boy now has only a paternal uncle, who is also financially not sound, to provide moral support.
Similar tale
A few kilometres away in Somandepalli village, Ravindra, another part-time journalist with a local Telugu daily, succumbed to COVID-19 three days ago leaving behind a young wife and a three-year-old son, with nothing to fall back on. The family has one loom which used to fetch them some money and Ravindra used to manage financial matters. Having spent whatever money they had for Ravindra’s treatment, the family is now dependent on contributions from his friends and colleagues to survive.
They pin their hopes on some government help to tide over the crisis. The family members of Janardhan are expecting the ₹10 lakh promised by the State government for orphaned children, while Ravindra and Janardhan are eligible for the ₹5 lakh compensation announced by the State.
