Gram sabha meeting, damp squib in panchayats

TIRUPATTUR: The special gram sabha meets held in various locations of Madanur panchayat union in Tirupattur district saw public participation turning belligerent demanding to know why the present meeting was being held when there was no action on resolutions passed in earlier gram sabha meetings, on Tuesday.

Needless to say, officials who were nonplussed remained silent having no answer. Gram sabha meetings at Vadapudupet, Vinnamangalam, Devalapuram, Veerankuppam and Periankuppam also saw public demanding to know the need for Tuesday’s meeting. “What is the need to hold a meeting now when no action has been taken on resolutions passed in earlier meetings?” said a woman participant in Periankuppam.

Public were irked that though such meetings were held on May 1 (May Day), August 15 (Independence Day) and October 2 (Gandhi Jayanthi), action was yet to be taken on the resolutions which usually resolved about infrastructure for the locality.

At Veerankuppam, participants said the Rs 5,000 allocated for each meeting could have been avoided, as the meeting served no useful purpose.

Similar questions were also raised at the gram sabha meets held Girisamudram, and Vellakuttai in Alangayam panchayat union and also at the meet at Koothandakuppam in Jolorpet PU.

Participants in the gram sabha meet at Somalapuram in the same PU were minimal as they consisted of 100 days scheme workers. A source said, “local politics resulted in 7 of the 9 panchayat ward members being ignorant of the meeting.”

Continued rain was also a reason for reduced attendance in all meetings. At Somalapuram the meeting ended quickly due to the same reason and the participants were seen returning home carrying their lunch pails along with their spades and related equipment.

An official seeking anonymity said, “it was only in the urban area meeting at Vaniyambadi where PWD Minister EV Velu participated that everything went on smoothly as this was the first time a meeting was being held in the town.”