Sattur constituency, which was reconstituted following the 2009 delimitation, is famous for so many things but yet to get its due recognition. It produces matchless safety matches, world class nibs for fountain pens, red chillies and tasty ‘kaarachevu’ (a staple snack). Its ideal location on Kanyakumari highway has made it a potential candidate for industrial investments and it remains so even after several plans for starting an industrial estate and a special economic zone have been put in the back burner one above the other.
Delay in starting new industries, even after the erstwhile DMK government got the nod for an SEZ, encourages flight of youth for employment to Tirupur, Coimbatore and Chennai. Whoever comes to power should abolish the one per cent market committee cess, says P.T.K.A. Balasubramanian, general secretary, Sattur Chamber of Commerce and Industries. He alleges that traders faced “undue harassment” by officials in the last five years. He presses for immediate steps to get rid of ‘seemai karuvelam’ (juliflora) growth on the Vaippar between Sattur and Irukkankudi.
Speaking about the problems of the match industry, V.C.A. Mahendran, president of the chamber, says that the new government should impress on the Centre about the need to waive central excise levy for matches. The Sattur units, which are small and medium in nature, are facing stiff competition in the market and shortage of labour force. The entry of big players, for whom match production is not the main concern, has hit the medium units badly.
G. Karuppasamy, a trader, is unhappy about the slow progress of land acquisition for the proposed SEZ. The ideal location of Sattur close to Thoothukudi port, a national highway and rail line has not been fully exploited, he says.
Agriculture, which provides employment to locals, is also hit in the past few years due to monsoon failure. Area under chilli cultivation is falling due to shortage of labour, says G. Selva Chandrakumar, a trader in chillies. “This region used to grow the lean and ‘mundu’ varieties of chilli, which are exported abroad and to other States, including Andhra Pradesh,” says Mr. Chandrakumar.
Vembakottai union in the constituency is notorious for illegal cracker units that often lead to fatal accidents. While there is a demand for streamlining the sector, stealthily functioning like cottage industry at residential places, it has not got a proper shape.
K.N.K. Sankaranarayanan, State functionary of Thevar Peravai, says lack of proper employment opportunities had been forcing the people of the region to take all the risk. “While the kin of those killed in those accidents do not get proper compensation, in many cases such accidents do not come to the public domain,” he says.
Besides making crackers of all sorts, the major clandestine work is fuse making.
“In Namakkal, smaller cracker units with one or two working sheds on one acre of land are given licences to function. If the same kind of regularisation is done in Virudhunagar district too, the illegal units can be streamlined and accidents prevented,” he says.
Protected drinking water in rural areas of Vembakottai region where Vaippar river runs, is also a mirage. Alagaranai water scheme which promises to provide adequate drinking water is eluding.
Tamil Nadu Cement Corporation limited, a State-owned cement factory that was started in the mid 1970s, is craving for modernisation for years to increase its production capacity and generate additional employment opportunities. “It is still a wet processing unit. If the technology is changed and the plant modernised, it will boost the economy of the region,” says A. Chandran, former secretary of AIFB Workers Union. The plant that had over 1,000 employees now has only 180 workers. It is still making profit, he adds.
With the strongman of Sattur, K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran of the DMK, contesting from neighbouring Aruppukottai and AIADMK Minister R.B. Uthayakumar shifting to Tirumangalam in Madurai district, the contest is robbed of its sheen. The AIADMK and the DMK have won from here four times each in the last nine elections since 1977. In the present election, there are 19 candidates in the fray, including S.G. Subramanian of the AIADMK, V. Srinivasan of the DMK, A.R. Raghuraman of the MDMK and S. Ashok Kumar of the BJP.
