Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Government on Thursday decided to provide land, house and financial help of Rs five lakh each to the two teenaged boys, whose parents died of burns after their threat to commit self-immolation to prevent eviction proceedings near here turned fatal.
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, an official release said.
The government will provide land and construct a house on a priority basis under the Life Mission project at an estimated cost of Rs 10 lakh for Rahul and Ranjit and also ensure their protection.
It was also decided to provide Rs five lakh each to the two boys for their education and other needs. The amount would be kept in fixed deposits in banks in their names, the release added.
All necessary help and protection would be extended to them under an appropriate scheme of the Women and Children's department.
The death of the couple on December 22 at Neyyattinkara triggered an outrage with opposition parties blaming the police for the unfortunate incident, following which the state government immediately announced help for them.
Health Minister K K Shailaja visited the boys in their one-room house on Thursday.
Meanwhile, state unit of Youth Congress handed over Rs 5 lakh to the boys. Youth Congress state vice president K S Sabarinathan and Congress MLA Shafi Parambil visited them at their home to hand over the money. The Congress party also extended financial help of Rs one lakh to the two. KPCC President Mullapally Ramachandan, and former chief minister, Oommen chandy had visited them to express their grief over the incident.
Forty seven-year-old Rajan and his wife Ambili had died of burn injuries after accidentally immolating themselves while threatening to end their lives as the police attempted to evict them from their home built on poramboke land.
The two had doused themselves in kerosene and warned police not to come closer. They had caught fire accidentally when a police officer tried to snatch a lighter from him.
In his dying declaration, Rajan had blamed the police for the incident.
The video of the two children wailing outside the hospital for help to cremate their father at the disputed land as per his last wish had gone viral on the social media, following which many had offered help to them.
(With PTI inputs)
