Residents demand institutions for higher education, better civic amenities in Mailam

The Mailam Assembly Constituency in Villupuram district is headed for a tough and direct fight between former Minister and MP C.Ve. Shanmugam of the AIADMK and L. Venkatesan of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), that is a part of the DMK-led alliance.

While Mr. Shanmugam has shifted from Villupuram, Mr. Venkatesan, who was the MLA of Tirukkoyilur Assembly Constituency in 2011, has shifted to Mailam. The ruling DMK has allotted the Tirukkoyilur seat to former Minister K. Ponmudy’s son Goutham Sigamani.

Mailam sitting MLA C. Sivakumar of the PMK, an ally of the AIADMK, has shifted to Vikravandi Constituency in Villupuram district. In the 2021 Assembly election, Mr. Sivakumar defeated his nearest rival R. Masilamani of the DMK by a margin of 2,230 votes.

Though Mr. Shanmugam carries the tag of an ‘outsider’, he is unfazed by such criticism. While Mr. Shamugam concentrates on his poll campaign, Mr. Venkatesan is ably supported by the DMK.

Encompassing three Panchayat unions – Mailam, Vallam and Olakkur – the Mailam constituency is a rain-fed region where agriculture is the main vocation. Waterbodies get filled up only where there is a good spell of rain, forcing the farming community to depend on borewells for cultivation of crops.

“The absence of a government arts and science college and polytechnic college at Mailam or anywhere in the constituency has been felt for long. Students have to travel to either Gingee or Tindivanam in the district for higher education. The constituency has not witnessed any significant development over the years and continues to remain a backward region,” says Saravanan, a resident.

S. Rajesh Kumar, a resident of Kooteripattu said the demand for creation of a Town Panchayat and Taluk Headquarters at Mailam has been pending for over 15 years.

“There are quite a number of large village panchayats that are presently located in Gingee and Tindivanam taluks. Residents of Mailam and Kooteripattu have to travel to Gingee and Tindivanam to avail various services. A Town Panchayat is better placed to provide basic amenities on a large scale vis-a-vis a village panchayat,” he said.

The slow pace of widening the two-lane Vellimedupettai-Mailam Road into a four-lane with absolute lack of safety measures, has been a nightmare for residents. Breathing dust and negotiating pothole ridden roads, the residents want the project to get completed at the earliest.