Residents of five remote villages have demanded the merger of their villages with the Madhanur panchayat union in Tirupattur, from the existing Gudiyattam taluk of Vellore.
A majority of residents echoed this view at a public hearing, organised by the Tirupattur district administration on Friday, on the inclusion of these five villages within the Madhanur block.
At the meeting, which was held at the Madhanur block development office (BDO), a group of women from Agaramcheri village sought to have their village attached to the Madhanur block, just about 4 km from the village. Residents also wanted adjoining villages Chinnacheri, Gollamangalam, Pallikuppam and Kuthambakkam to be attached to Madhanur panchayat union.
At present, these five villages are part of Gudiyatham taluk that consists of 61 villages in Vellore district. However, residents said that the distance from these villages to reach Vallathur village in Gudiyatham taluk for government facilities like old age pensions, community certificates and patta changes, is around 30 km via Pallikonda on the Chennai – Bengaluru Highway (NH 48). In contrast, Madhanur block is located only a few kilometres away from these villages.
“During the trifurcation of Vellore district, our views were not heard. As a result, we have to take a detour from our village for basic facilities such as hospitals, banks, schools and agricultural offices, to Gudiyattam,” said P.S. Nithyanandam, a councillor. Government subsidies in agriculture, electricity, housing for low-income groups and work allotment under MNREGA scheme were also affected, the residents said.
The two-hour meeting was chaired by P. Premalatha, Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO), Vaniyambadi. .
Ward councillors, panchayat presidents, residents, traders and farmers from all the five villages wanted the addition of their villages to the Madhanur block.
“These villages have also passed a resolution at the gram sabha meeting on January 26 to join the Madhanur block. A report on their views will be sent to the government through the Collector, D. Bhaskara Pandian,” Ms. Premalatha, RDO (Vaniyambadi), told The Hindu.