Actor Vijayakanth offers land to bury Covid-19 victims
Actor Vijaykanth’s response came after locals protested when Chennai neurosurgeon Dr Simon Hercules’ body was brought to a cemetery for burial. He had succumbed to Covid-19.
Popular Tamil actor Vijayakanth has come forward to donate a piece of land he owns to bury or cremate bodies of Covid-19 victims in the wake of opposition from people to bury bodies of those affected by coronavirus. In a statement, Vijayakanth said he is allotting a piece of land near Shri Andal Alagar College of Engineering located near Chennai. He also requested the state government to educate people that coronavirus does not spread through corpses, and asked his political party workers to do the same.
Vijayakanth’s statement comes a couple of days after 55-year-old neurosurgeon Dr Simon Hercules succumbed to Covid-19 at a private hospital in Chennai. When his body was brought to a cemetery in Anna Nagar (Chennai), local residents protested and attacked. The ambulance too was damaged.
Even since the lockdown, several southern actors have contributed towards the welfare of their respective film industry and daily wage workers. From Ajith to Raghava Lawrencce, Prabhas and Mahesh Babu, the top stars have donated generously. In Telugu industry, Chiranjeevi has been leading from the front to help daily wage employees via Corona Crisis Charity, a committee set up to attend to the needs of daily laborers.
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“I discussed with a few people from the industry and they were ready to help. When I announced the ‘Corona Crisis Charity’, many actors, producers and others responded immediately and donated. Since we couldn’t go out, we took the help of people in the software industry to track the workers through their Aadhaar cards,” he said in an interview to Deccan Chronicle.
Telugu industry employs nearly 12000 people. According to Chiranjeevi, ““Each day we serve nearly 600 people and I am confident everyone will get the help they need.” Rice, oil and dal (pulses) are being handed over to a family of four for 10 days. About 25 volunteers deliver the supplies to the doorsteps of beneficiaries.
Talking about the losses being incurred by Telugu filmdom, Chiranjeevi said: “We can’t estimate the losses right now. But I feel that it will run into hundreds of crores. I don’t know when the theatres will reopen, and when we can start shooting again. But I am confident that the cinema industry will bounce back once normality is restored.”
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