People presume that workers of crematoriums, who handle dead bodies every day, had lost their sense of empathy. But the 12 workers of ‘Anjali,’ a crematorium maintained by Rotary Club of Madurai Midtown Trust at Moolakarai in Madurai, have proved it wrong.
Despite working round the clock due to the influx of COVID-19 bodies, the crematorium workers, who do not earn a decent income, have jointly contributed ₹20,000 to the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund. The workers, along with Trust chairman K. Mathan, handed over the money to Collector Aneesh Sekar and Corporation Commissioner S. Visakan, who conducted a sudden inspection at the crematorium.
P. Vellaichamy, a machine operator at the crematorium, said that this was a small contribution by the workers in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. “Around 10 days back, the entire crematorium was filled with the mourning of families who lost their loved ones due to COVID-19. It was disheartening to witness the situation. So, we wanted to make a small contribution although it is meagre,” he said.
But now there is a drop in the number of bodies attended to at the crematorium. “Only public cooperation by following the COVID-19 safety precautions can help us to overcome the pandemic,” he added.
Mr. Mathan said that the workers had also contributed their one day’s salary for the Gaja cyclone relief. “Their contributions and funds from several other organisations was used to build a smart class at Vedaranyam, which was badly affected because of the cyclone,” he added.