The Hindu : Problems persist despite VIP status

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 23, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Problems persist despite VIP status

By K. Raju

Surrounded by the lush green and eco-rich Western Ghats and large tracts of fertile land, Theni is basically an agrarian district and one of the biggest agro-produce trading centres in the State.

It has two rivers - the Mullai Periyar and the Vaigai - but many areas remain rain-fed. Carved out of Madurai district in 1997, Theni, bastion of the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam since 1977, has been maintaining its `VIP status' for more than two decades.

Successive monsoon failures have put the farmers in a spot. Farmers in the fertile Cumbum valley did not go for a second crop last year and a similar trend prevails this year too. The farm yield has come down and the cultivable area has shrunk. Water shortage is haunting the people in both urban and rural areas. Theni, Cumbum and Andipatti are the worst affected. Cotton, once a major crop, has almost vanished from the district.

Even as 11 MPs have pumped a major share of their constituency development funds into rural development projects, the major beneficiary is the Andipatti Assembly segment, represented by the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa. But these works have not raised rural living standards.

The irrigation projects — 18th canal and 58-canal schemes — are moving at snail's pace. While the Shanmuga river reservoir project has not been completed even after two decades, the Veerappa Iyanar scheme has been put in cold storage. Silt has reduced the storage capacity of the Vaigai reservoir. Grape processing and winemaking units in the Cumbum valley are a distant dream. The farmers' demand for construction of small checkdams in the river has not been considered. Rampant sand mining in the Vaigai, the Mullaiyar and the Suruliyar has worsened the situation.

The handloom industry, which hit the rock-bottom, is limping back to normal, following the revival of the free saree and dhoti scheme.

Thanks to the Chief Minister's initiative, the district has seen some development activities. The Andipatti-Sedapatti combined drinking water project, a government arts college for men, cashew and silk cotton processing centres in Varushanadu, a medical college and widening of the Bodinaickanur-Moonar highways are notable achievements. The proposed Periakulam agro-export zone has provided a glimmer of hope to mango growers.

The Andipatti constituency has elected two Chief Ministers so far. In 1984, the AIADMK founder, M. G. Ramachandran, won from here. Now Ms. Jayalalithaa represents it.

Mukkulathors dominate the district with 22 per cent of the total voters, Dalits account for 19 per cent, Pillais, Gounders and Chettiyars eight per cent; Naidus and Christians three per cent and Muslims five per cent.

Though the AIADMK has won the Periakulam Lok Sabha seat seven times, a landslide for the ruling party has become a thing of the past since 1991. Sedapatti R. Muthiah won with a margin of 71,000 votes in 1998, while T. T. V. Dinakaran, member of the 13th Lok Sabha, captured the seat with a slender lead of 45,000.

The AIADMK's arch-rival, DMK, which romped home in 1980 and 1996, has now offered the seat to its ally, Congress. The Congress, after a gap of four decades, is taking on the aggressive AIADMK on its home pitch.

Total number of Assembly constituencies: 5 (Theni, Bodinaickanur, Cumbum, Periakulam and Andipatti).

Total electorate: 10,47,905 (Men 5,38,291; women 5,09,614).

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