On the veranda of the locked panchayat office in Nayakkaneri, a tribal village located 15 km from Ambur town in Tirupattur district atop Jawadhu Hills, K. Janaki waits patiently to get her dues for the work done under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
Some metres away, G. Kuppan, 64, watches an open trench dug up on the village road over a month ago as part of construction of storm-water drains ahead of the northeast monsoon. “Last week, a woman fell into it and got injured. Only god knows when this work will be completed,” he said.
Both of them are long-time residents of the Nayakkaneri village, which is at the heart of a row between Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi and the State government. In 2021, the panchayat was categorised as a reserved unit. The panchayat comprises the Nayakkaneri, Kamanur Thattu and Panakatteri hamlets and has around 3,500 persons in nine wards. A Dalit candidate, P. Indumathi, was the sole contestant and elected unanimously to the post of president. Ms. Indumathi hails from Kamanur Thattu, located 12 km away from Nayakkaneri.
A section of residents in the hamlet claims that the panchayat president should be from their hamlet. “It is not about caste, but it is about who cares for us. Even for a simple work, we have to go to a faraway hamlet to meet the president. If the president is from our hamlet, we can have a bonding and approach one another easily,” says S. Muthu, a resident.
However, Ms. Indumathi is firm on her stand that she would serve her term. “Only after the panchayat post was made as a reserved one, I decided to contest it. The decision of the Election Commission of India should be respected,” says Ms. Indumathi.
Collector D. Bhaskara Pandian said the Advocate-General (R. Shunmugasundaram) had given his opinion that Ms. Indumathi should approach the court and file an affidavit to get clearance before being sworn in and added that the district administration had already referred the issue to the State Election Commission.
Nayakkaneri is in need of basic amenities, be it the upgrade of the Government High School as a higher secondary school, pending since 2014, the need for a government bus service, a primary health centre and better roads. Residents say that if the panchayat president had taken charge, civic amenities and infrastructure in the village would have improved.
