For 69-year-old Ramalakshmi of Andalpuram, climbing the rickety stairs of the Collector office is more painful than her permanent disability.
The political class has always identified Madurai as the gateway of south Tamil Nadu. But neither the DMK nor the AIADMK, now in power, had done anything appreciable to improve the infrastructure facilities in government offices.
Needy people, who look for tall support from the government, have a long list of woes. Visiting a government office is more painful than getting a grievance redressed. The Collectorate, the office where the District Collector sits with all senior officers and staff, does not have any basic amenities for the visiting public. Neither drinking water is there nor are toilets. There is no proper seating arrangement in this ancient building.
The building was in the news for the wrong reasons three years ago after a fire broke out on the first floor destroying files. Investigation suggested that worn-out wiring had led to electricity leak and consequent accident.
A few other offices, including the offices of Tahsildar, Panchayat Development, Rural Development and District Supply Office, housed on the campus too have very little facility.
The disorderly arrangement of old records and files in these offices kept for many long years not only emanated a pungent smell but also affected respiratory system of the staff. “Whenever visitors came to our offices, they are taken to the nearby cafeteria due to shortage of chairs,” a Deputy Tahsildar at the Collectorate, requesting anonymity, said.
A visit to a few other government offices in the city indicated that Collector’s office was not alone.
Though the Department of Registration had a combined office to accommodate the Sub-Registrar’s offices at Othakadai, lack of toilet facility forced many public to use the road space, thus spoiling the environment, said R.M. Maheswaran, a document writer in BB Kulam.
Whenever it rained, snakes visited the office of Chief Educational Officer situated opposite BSNL office in Tallakulam. “The doors and windows are in such a bad shape that a few years ago laptops meant for distribution went missing here,” a staff recalled and said that electric wiring was in a bad shape.
Yet another most frequented office is the Commercial Taxes office situated in posh K.K Nagar near Madurai Law College. The ground-plus- four-floor building, which was opened in 1985 by late MGR, has four lifts. However, only one lift functions, while the others are under repair. As a result, public have to climb stairs.
“The PWD engineers should visit the premises periodically and ensure that the buildings and infrastructure facilities are in good shape,” said former Joint Commissioner (Commercial Taxes) Kanagavel Manoharan.
‘Anna Maaligai,’ the headquarters of Corporation of Madurai, situated on Alagarkoil Road, Tallakulam, is one premises which has set in a few regulations like ban on pasting posters, and is relatively clean. But, it is not a no-smoking campus, though public expect it to set such benchmarks.
Though the grievance meeting hall at the Collectorate has a ramp for differently abled persons, many offices do not have the facility, thus forcing such people to depend on others’ help.
Comparatively good
Many offices run by the Central government in Madurai are relatively well-maintained. Employees’ Provident Fund office, Passport Seva Kendra, Central Excise and Customs, and Income Tax department offices have drinking water facility for visitors, toilets and car park.
At a time when the government had kicked off the birth centenary celebrations of late Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran in Madurai a fortnight ago, the public expect the rulers to provide at least basic amenities such as drinking water and clean environment.
Revenue Minister and AIADMK MLA from Tirumangalam R.B. Udaykumar said that Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami had announced in the Assembly under Rule 110 that Madurai Collectorate would get ₹26.62 crore with which additional buildings would come up soon. “The government would improve infrastructure facilities not only in Madurai, but in places where they are required,” he asserted.
