KRISHNAGIRI: While one end of the lockdown spectrum has people comfortably cooped up at their homes, the other set of people found it difficult to connect with the local body representative and address their grievances. Though a slew of officials worked towards the betterment of these people, nothing seemed to work in a correct channel.
At this juncture, a group of youth ensured that those in distress could contact the Hosur MLA through the Telegram application; they made a group named -- My MLA Hosur -- to connect the people and the MLA.
My MLA Hosur, a Telegram group was created by M Anandhan, an entrepreneur with the support of few volunteers from Hosur to connect the people with the DMK MLA SA Sathya on August 6.
According to sources, the group has received over 159 public grievances that include issues like, water scarcity, the need for drainage, streetlight malfunctioning, damaged potholed roads, among others.
Coordinator of the group M Anandhan, said, "It all started during the lockdown period. When many office goers found it difficult to commute to the nearby state, Bengaluru from Hosur, the My MLA Hosur group helped them to get past the restriction. When they approached MLA through the group, he interfered and got permission for the people to move freely without any restriction. The group was started after discussing it with the Hosur MLA. Later, the group was used to clear the issues of other residents as well," he explained.
He said that five volunteers -- KV Nagesh, Thilak, Kishore, Vinoth and Mukherjee -- are working from M Anandhan's side, while three representatives are working for the MLA.
MLA SA Sathya said that every day he receives a communication to his office from 'My MLA Hosur' group. Since the inception of the group, the grievances are resolved in a short span, he added.
Group coordinator Anandhan said that out of 159 complaints received, 45 petitions were resolved, five were rejected, five are on hold, 104 are under progress. In future, the group will have an administrator from various stakeholders, like residential association representative, company employee, vendors association. This was coordinated by a group of volunteers with a social cause, he added.
"Now, many applicants are approaching their respective panchayat heads, clerks, water operators and other offices through the group. Contact numbers of the respective offices provided in the group," Anandhan stated.