CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin will address at least 10,000 Village Councils (gramasabai) in the State when they meet on Saturday, October 11, to decide on, among other things, removing the derogatory caste names given to hamlets, roads, streets, water resources and public properties, and other subjects indicated by the government.
Earlier, the Chief Minister had personally taken part in gram sabha meetings twice — once in Madurai district and the other time in Kancheepuram district. In 2023, a message from him was relayed during the meetings.
After speaking to the participants of the village councils, the Chief Minister will directly interact with the members of the public and panchayat leaders from Kovalam panchayat in Chengalpattu district, Mullikulam panchayat of Tenkasi district, Varapatti in Coimbatore district, Kondangi in Villupuram district and Thirumalaisamudram in Thanjavur district.
Gagandeep Singh Bedi, Additional Chief Secretary, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department told media persons at the Secretariat that TANFINET (Tamil Nadu FibreNet Corporation Limited) had already said hat their connections had reached 11,100 village panchayats and that would be proved true on Saturday when the Chief Minister addressed the village councils together through video conference, he said.
In Tamil Nadu gramasabai meetings were held at least six times a year for the villagers to know their rights and also to make demands on their needs, he said.
“The Chief Minister will address these gram sabha meetings live tomorrow. After his speech, the gram sabha meetings will deliberate on 16 subjects, and if there are more subjects, they will be discussed too,” Bedi said. The top three priorities or essential requirements of every village would be discussed in the meeting and resolutions will be adopted, he said.
The council would decide on the three ‘top priority’ issues in their village that needed immediate attention and pass a resolution that would be registered in the TNRD (Tamil Nadu Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department) portal by the evening itself, Bedi said, adding that among them would be issues like garbage clearance, roads, streetlights and bus services, on which people could make their demands to the government.
Drinking water supply, street lamps, garbage disposal, road infrastructure, public transport, among others, may be among the requirements in rural areas. “Resolutions will be adopted over the top three priorities. The village secretary will upload the resolutions in the TNRD portal by that evening. Along with the District Collectors, through meetings and follow up-action, the State government will try to redress them in the shortest possible time,” Bedi said.
Issues will be redressed across all levels, including the State level led by the Chief Secretary. The initiative is being undertaken under the theme ‘Namma Ooru, Namma Arasu’.
Welfare schemes of the government aimed at poverty alleviation would be discussed at the meeting that would also decide on the beneficiaries at the village level by preparing a priority list, he said. The meeting would also decide on the loans that would be extended to the impoverished families, he said.
Already the government had indicated the subjects to be discussed at the meeting and among them are fighting dengue through controlling mosquitoes, precautions to be taken against the Northeast monsoon, garbage clearance, rainwater harvesting, the various welfare schemes of the Union and State governments like PMAGY, Thayumanavar, Swachh Bharat and so on.
The meetings would also discuss the accounts relating to the various projects undertaken by the villages and also about auditing them.
The proceedings of the meetings in 7515 village panchayats would be recorded and uploaded, as per the advisory of the Union Ministry of Panchayat Raj, on the SabhaSaar site, he said.
Referring to a Government Order issued by the State government over the removal of derogatory caste names from streets, roads, waterbodies, and public infrastructure, Bedi said that the orders were issued with good intention. “Tomorrow [during the gram sabha meetings], in general, people could decide [over removing and changing of derogatory caste names, if any].” He further clarified: “If there is community-based name but there is no controversy and people do not want to change, the name need not be changed.”
Bedi said the advisory of the government is with a good intention, for changing derogatory caste names, if there are any. “But the change of name would not be instant. In the next stage, it would be examined by the Assistant Director level, and then at the Collector level. It will then be sent to the officers concerned,” he said. “After a decision is taken by the government, procedures will follow.”
The gram sabha meetings will also identify indigent families and prepare a priority list to benefit from the Vulnerability Reduction Fund provided for under the National Rural Livelihood Mission, Bedi said. Loans with interest ranging between 0% and 4% would be lent to beneficiaries, he said. Instead of officials deciding, it would be a participatory approach with gram sabhas.
Administrative and general expenditure between April 1 and September 30 this year, audit report for 2024-25, status of work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, status of Anaithu Grama Anna Marumalarchi Thittam, among others would be discussed in the gram sabha meetings.
Swachh Bharat Mission, rain water harvesting, precautionary measures against spread of dengue, preparation for monsoon, efforts against child labour, provision of skill training for youths, are among other issues that may be discussed, he said.
To a query on whether only names that have been mentioned in the G.O. were to be named while changing the names of derogatory caste names, Bedi pointed out that they were only indicative names.
Secretary of the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department D. Karthikeyan said ward sabha meetings would be held by the end of this month wherein inputs would be received regarding top three priority requirements and action would be taken.
A total of 12,838 wards in 25 municipal corporations, 145 municipalities and town panchayats. “In all the wards, the ward sabha meetings would be held. The State government would announce a date for the meeting later,” Karthikeyan said.
