Cheyyur: Voters in despair over lack of job opportunities, govt. assistance

A little over 100 kilometres south of Chennai lies the quaint town of Cheyyur, close enough to the city’s high-growth IT Corridor to enable young professionals travel for work daily, yet far enough to retain its rustic way of life.

A Taluk headquarters, this town gained electoral prominence after the Cheyyur constituency was formed during the 2008 delimitation exercise. This reserved constituency is predominantly a agrarian belt that also enjoys a considerably long coastline. The political narrative here is shaped by livelihood issues centred around agriculture, fishing, and labour issues.

Cheyyur has, on the last two occasions, voted in favour of the Secular Progressive Alliance headed by the DMK. In 2011, the AIADMK candidate had won by a margin of over 26,000 votes.

“Cheyyur constituency lacks in livelihood opportunities for the local people,” said V. Mohan, a retired Headmaster of Adi Dravidar Welfare High School. “There are no industries nearby that may employ people here.”

In Cheyyur town and its surrounding villages, public transport has been a blind spot. People depend largely on share autorickshaws, two-wheelers, and other forms of private transport. The bright spot, however, is the town of Melmaruvathur, known as the abode of goddess Adi Parashakthi, which is well connected by train and bus. This town also serves as the boarding point for young professionals who travel to Chennai or adjoining areas for work. “It would serve people well if bus services in the area is improved,” Mr. Mohan said.

Between Cheyyur town and the coast lie a large expanse of barren wetland running along the coastline that once were salt pans. Both the State and the Central government owned different clusters of these salt pans.

While the pans under the Union government were given out on lease, the pans coming under the State government were being run by cooperatives. “With a gradual increase in price of commodities and labour costs, salt manufacturing became unviable. Many moved out to look for other opportunities,” said R. Irudhayaraj, a retired vocational teacher.

“People living in several colonies in and around Cheyyur were dependent on these salt pans for livelihood, which they lost after the pans closed. There was no other option for them to fall back on. The new MLA should help revive these salt pans so that people here have a source of livelihood,” he demanded.

Along the coast, the fishermen raised concerns over livelihood stability. While on the one side, trawling by large fishing vessels from Cuddalore, Poompuhar, Karaikal, and Puducherry has led to depletion of their catch, coastal erosion has directly threatened their existence.

T. Kannappan, former president of Thazhuthalikuppam panchayat, said that gradual incursion of the sea has been threatening their hamlets forcing them to relocate further inland. He said that the 200-odd families living in his village pooled their resources and managed to obtain 5.5 acres of land to build their houses. However, the government was yet to provide them with land ownership documents.

The hinterland is dotted by 100-odd villages, a majority of which depend on agriculture. With no perennial water source, much of the irrigation is supported by rain-fed farm wells, making December to March the main crop season. While paddy remains the major crop during this season, farmers also grow watermelon, musk melon, and groundnut as a second crop.

“Agriculture is becoming less and less lucrative with each passing year,” said K. Loganathan, a farmer and president of Kayapakkam Panchayat. “Bank loans are hard to come by because of the sheer volume of paperwork. Also, relief provided by the government for crop failure is a fraction of what a farmer invests,” he observed.

Landless labourers constitute at least 20 per cent of those engaged in agricultural work, many of whom live below poverty line. Government housing schemes, like the Kalaignar Kanavu Thittam, provides ₹3.5 lakh assistance whereas they require at least ₹10 lakh to complete the house. “In these cases, beneficiaries don’t really benefit from the scheme due to their inability to cover the shortfall,” Mr. Loganathan pointed out.

Direct Procurement Centres (DPC) set up by Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation, which procure a large share of rice harvested between February and May, provides some relief to the farmers. An official in one of the DPCs, on condition of anonymity, said that it receives around 50,000 bags rice a year from the villages surrounding it, each bag weighing 40 kgs. Payment is released within three-four days. “We have received about 8,000 bags so far,” he added.

Across demographies, Cheyyur presents the picture of a constituency that has very little, but has lost the appetite to demand for more. Delivery of services and government assistance leave a lot to be desired, even as people go about their lives unhindered. However, the advent of a new player, actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam, in the electoral scene has stirred up the youth.

Mr. Loganathan says that TVK’s posters and flags can be seen in pockets where the Scheduled Caste population is concentrated. N. Devi, who works in a vegetables stall, said that her four-year-old grandson has been insisting that she vote for Vijay.

It is likely to be a four-cornered contest for this seat. VCK has fielded the sitting Kattumannarkoil MLA, M. Sinthanai Selvan, in Cheyyur this time while E. Rajasekar is the AIADMK candidate. K. Mohanraja will be the TVK candidate while the Naam Tamilar Katchi has fielded an IT professional, Su. Swathilakshmi.

Published – April 05, 2026 12:54 am IST