A unique initiative of the Madurai Lok Sabha Member of Parliament Su. Venkatesan to ‘meet the people’ across his constituency has helped solve many long-pending issues in a swift manner.
On May 2022, the MP kicked off the programme from Thumbaipatti near Melur, the birthplace of stalwart leader Kakkan. For the next 14 months, the camps were held across the constituency covering 124 village panchayats, one municipality (Melur), two town panchayats (Vallalapatti and Paravai) and one corporation (Madurai).
During the camps, the MP ensured that officials from multiple departments were present and actions taken on the spot in many petitions.
In an interview to The Hindu on Saturday, Mr. Venkatesan said that he would have received around 10,000 petitions out of which about 40% were redressed on the spot with the assistance of officials from as many as 33 departments, while in other cases, they were in different stages and would be redressed in a month or so.
“Mostly, the petitions were seeking pattas, pension-related grievances, issues in MGNREGA, (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) dwellings for homeless people under Union and State governments, transport facilities and basic infrastructure,” he added.
Among the petitions, the people from Melur and Kottampatti said that for various reasons, they were deprived of works under the MGNREGA and requested his intervention. For instance, the petitioners claimed that they were given jobs only for 30 to 40 days against the mandated 100 days by the Act and also claimed that only 34,000 people were benefitted in Madurai last year.
Against this backdrop, after holding a few rounds of meetings with the officials from various departments, the MP solved the issue, which is considered a milestone, that the number of beneficiaries stood at 84,000 people with 100 day guarantee coming in.
It was a three-fold rise in both the number of beneficiaries and working days, he added.
Thanking Chief Minister M.K. Stalin for his support and contribution of ₹4.50 crore, the MP said that a new bus stand at a cost of ₹5 crore would come up in Kottampatti with his contribution of ₹50 lakh from the MPLAD fund. The bus stand, which was last built about three decades ago, required more space to accommodate buses from Madurai, Sivaganga and Dindigul districts.
Likewise, Mr. Venkatesan also said that under the Cauvery integrated drinking water project, Melur and Kottampatti habitations would get potable water. After his interface with the people through his camps, he approached Mr. Stalin and submitted a memorandum seeking assistance. The Tamil Nadu government, he said, sanctioned ₹112 crore towards this project and 129 habitations would benefit, the MP added.
The MP felt that Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation officials should restore bus facilities as it was operating prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. This, he said, had reflected the rise in dropout of children in government schools. Many parents during the camps said that after the buses were suspended during the pandemic, it was not resumed even after the restrictions were lifted.
The Communist MP said that he was overwhelmed to see that the e-patta was functioning effectively in rural pockets of Madurai while it was not the case in Madurai city, where the people complained that they had to wait for longer number of days and months to get pattas.
Likewise, from the infrastructure point, he said that anganwadis, ration shops and buildings of corporation schools were far from satisfaction. Almost 80 % of anganwadis have demands for better infrastructure.
The Union Government should enhance the funds for MPs from ₹5 crore to at least ₹10 crore as the MLAs in Tamil Nadu have ₹3 crore each for their constituency development.
Thanking the MP for the interface, many public have taken to the social media and said “the 14-month interface across the MP’s constituency has set a model to other MPs in Tamil Nadu,” they added.
Like the ‘meet the people’ camp, Mr. Venkatesan was instrumental in organising education loan mela for students in Madurai by roping in public/private sector banks. According to a banker, a total of ₹1,100 crore was disbursed to students seeking higher education loan in the State and Madurai alone accounted for ₹130 crore and it was due to the efforts of the MP, he added.
