A Tribtute to Ramkeshji and a request for support

A Tribtute to Ramkeshji and a request for support

(Editor's note: This is a tribute from Hamara Manch and an appeal from friends associated with Citizens' Forum. Also take a look at the relevant Hamara Manch update.

Contact details have been removed from the web version. If you are interested in contributing, please write to citizensforum.at.iitk@gmail.com.)

Dear Friends,

We are writing to inform you about the sad demise of one of the founding members of Hamara Manch. Ramkesh bhai, a skilled mason who worked on the Environmental Engineering building on campus, was killed in a road accident on August 3rd. He left behind his wife and five young children (ages 2-12). Ramkeshbhai’s two year old daughter and wife were critically injured in the accident and were in the hospital for around a month. All of HM’s focus in the interim period has been to ensure that they get adequate treatment and care, and hence this tribute has got delayed.

This email is our tribute to Ramkesh bhai (please see the attachment), and also a request for community solidarity with Ramkesh's family. A young man in his 30s, Ramkesh bhai was the main financial support of his family which, in addition to his wife and children, also includes parents. As a gesture of support and solidarity with Ramkesh's family, Hamara Manch has decided to create a fund that, apart from compensating the family for the immediate medical expenses they have just incurred, may also provide some stable support for the family in the future. 

Our aim is to collect an amount that would be roughly equivalent to the amount of compensation that would be due to Ramkesh's family had he died at work : around 7 lakhs.  At Hamara Manch, a forum consisting primarily of contract workers, the collective decision has been for every individual to contribute at least a day's earning to this fund. We are writing to request your contributions to this fund as a gesture of solidarity with a worker-friend who was always the first to stand up with fellow workers.

Needless to say, the smallest of monetary contributions are most welcome. And please do read this tribute to appreciate how special a person Ramkesh was and how he contributed in the making of Hamara Manch.

In Solidarity with Hamara Manch

September 2013

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For more on Hamara Manch and Citizens' Forum, see http://iitkcf.appspot.com/

Attachment: Ramkesh Bhai tribute.pdf