Manamadurai voters seek tangible changes beyond politics and empty promises

The Manamadurai Assembly constituency (SC) in Sivaganga district, which has been on news very often in the last few years not for its developments but for the caste-based conflicts and police-inflicted torture incidents, has seen no tangible developmental changes in the recent past. 

The reserved constituency with 2,57,616 voters – 1,23,665 men, 1,31,0148 women and three others – had a DMK legislator A. Tamilarasi.

The constituency which last brought a DMK legislator to power in 1989 by electing P. Duraipandi did not vote for a DMK candidate to power till 2021.  

However, the public, who were not very much satisfied with the incumbent legislator, felt nothing had been brought to the constituency barring a Government Arts College and Government ITI.  

While the constituency encompassed three blocks – Thirupuvanam, Ilayangudi and Manamadurai – none of them had witnessed any industrial or education growth in the past five years, the public felt.  

L. Pandi, coordinator of Social Education for Rural Development (SERD), said that better public infrastructures and installation of underground drainage were the need of the hour.  

“As the town lies on either side of the Vaigai river, unlike Madurai and any other places, we have only one bridge to cross the river,” he added.  

During peak hours and during movement of heavy vehicles, vehicle movements come to a halt, creating traffic snarls that can take nearly an hour to clear, he noted. 

He said the lack of a separate pedestrian walkway or a second bridge forces school children and elderly residents to walk dangerously close to moving traffic, leading to several minor accidents over the last few years 

Also, business owners in the main bazaar area complained that the constant congestion discourages people from surrounding villages (like those in the Ilayangudi and Thirupuvanam blocks) to come to the town for trade, he said.  

Mr. Pandi demanded that a new bridge be constructed over the Vaigai river in the areas connecting Krishnarajapuram and railway colony.  

“As the Krishnarajapuram area people have to come to the main town every time to cross the bridge, it adds to the traffic. Creation of a separate bridge could help them avoid the road near town getting choked,” he stated. 

He expressed dissatisfaction over the MLA not being able to provide a new building for the Government Girls Higher Secondary school and a new Government Boys Higher Secondary School.  

“Though the need for schools is evident to let the private schools run their business the legislator did not take any steps to bring new schools.” 

M. Ilamaran, a third generation pottery maker in the constituency, said they, in the past few years, felt the heat of not being allocated the suitable pond for extracting clay for their business.

“As we are traditional potters, only the suitable clay could improve our products and business. With introduction of new rules to extract clay only from the government approved ponds we have almost lost out touch in the pots,” he worried.

If a separate workshop along with necessary facilities was allocated for the pot makers in a place even outside the town limit, they could grow their business and expand the varieties of products being made, he noted.

Talking about industrial development in the constituency, K. Balasubramaniam, former Union Councillor and a member of Communist Party of India (Marxist), said despite possessing a SIPCOT industrial complex in Manamadurai, due to unsuitable facilities and ineffective policies, no company has shown interest in setting up their businesses there.  

“Instead of creating a conducive environment for industries to provide employment to the youth, they have permitted a private medical waste disposal unit on the SIPCOT campus,” he stated.  

The disposal unit, which was notorious for its blatant disregard for environmental safety and public health, became the centre of a massive public outcry in late 2025, he noted.  

By allowing such a facility in a place near residential areas, the government has proved that it has no interest in supporting the public by any good means, he remarked.

If their demand for the establishment of a chilly oil mill at Ilayangudi was fulfilled, the majority of chilly farmers making frequent trips to Paramakudi to sell their produce could have benefitted from the reduction in transportation costs and the elimination of middleman exploitation, he said.  

Above all, he pointed out that the mill could have provided employment to the local youth and could have also provided support to the farmers by giving them an assurance for their produce. 

Some of the other long-pending demands that Mr. Balasubramaniam noted were a polytechnic college and speedy instalment of the medical equipment in the recently upgraded Thirupuvanam Taluk Government Hospital. 

The common disappointment over their constituency being left out in any of the developmental projects and schemes could be felt across the area. They strongly voiced out they could not depend always on Madurai and Karaikudi for all their needs. As a revenue-generating constituency, the voters were sure they would choose someone who could prioritise self-sustainability over dependency.

Published – March 25, 2026 09:41 pm IST