Residents of Anthoniyarpuram in Punganur village panchayat near here, on Monday, submitted a petition to the Collector K. S. Palanisamy demanding immediate restoration of drinking water supply to their area which has 22 families.
The residents, most of them women, said that Anthoniyarpuram was located at an isolated place in the village and a separate supply lines were set up. The supply was erratic and repeated plea to the panchayat authorities had not yielded the desired results, they said.
J. Florence Raj, one of the residents, said that the supply was effected only for a couple of days after they had resorted to road roko agitation recently. S. Joseph Raj, another resident, said the pipelines at Anthoniyarpuram area had been closed by the panchayat authorities.
Adhiyan certificates
Students belonging to the Adhiyan sect of Scheduled Tribes from Gandhi Nagar area at Nagamangalam near here have urged the district administration to direct the revenue authorities to issue community certificate to them as ‘Adhiyan.’ They were accommodated at Gandhi Nagar area through a comprehensive programme by the district administration about one-and-a-half decades ago. They staged a brief demonstration at the Collector’s Office where they came to submit a petition during the weekly public grievances meeting. The students said that though their parents possessed the Adhiyan certificate, the Revenue Department authorities were not issuing the same to the wards. They needed the community certificate for pursuing their education in high and higher secondary schools.
Plea for jobs
Sanitary workers appointed temporarily as ‘Thuyimai Kavalargal,’ under the Solid Waste Management programme in Thuraiyur, Uppilliyapuram, Musiri and Thathaiyengarpettai panchayat unions, on Monday, submitted a petition to the Collector K.S. Palanisamy demanding assured job throughout the year.
The petition said that they have been working as sanitary workers since May 7 last year. One worker was appointed for every 150 houses and a tri-cycle was allotted for 300 houses. They said that they got job for 300 days last year. But this year the number of working days had been restricted to 100 days throwing them out of job for the remaining days.
Officials clarified that these sanitary workers had been converted as beneficiaries of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme restricting their job opportunity to a maximum of 100 days a year.
K. Vivekanandan, coordinator of the Sanitary Workers Welfare Union, who led the workers, said that the solid waste management programme should not be linked with the MGNREGS and the state government should allot special funds as usual.
