PERAMBALUR/ARIYALUR: Ending a decades-long wait, a legislative member from the districts of Ariyalur and Perambalur for the first time has secured a post in the State Cabinet. DMK MLA SS Sivasankar, who won from the Kunnam Assembly constituency, has been made the Minister of Backward Classes Welfare, setting off celebrations and raising people’s hopes of development in the region.
Ariyalur and Perambalur are backward districts, with a majority of the people dependent on agriculture and agri-based works. While Perambalur hardly has any factories to boast of, the majority of the workforce in Ariyalur’s cement factories are migrants.
A lack of State Ministers from the districts has had a toll on development of the region. With the DMK-led alliance emerging victorious in all the four seats in Perambalur and Ariyalur in the Assembly election, people were expecting the representation of at least one Minister to develop the backward districts. Sivasankar, who is also the DMK’s Ariyalur district secretary, being handed the Backward Classes Welfare Ministry in Stalin’s State Cabinet led to celebrations among party cadres.
Sivasankar’s experience as two-time MLA and as Ariyalur district secretary for over 12 years has led to high expectations among the people that he will take both the districts on the path of development.
S Bama, a resident of Ariyalur, said, "We welcome the appointment of Sivasankar as a Minister. Construction of the medical college at Ariyalur is in full swing. Admission is expected to take place here next year. However, only the site has been selected for the medical college in Perambalur. No work has been done.” He is the minister for both districts and hence should hence take action to complete their construction. This will be a challenge for him, Bama added.
K Anbarasan of Perambalur sought Sivasankar’s intervention in the special economic zone scheme introduced earlier by the DMK. “As both the districts are dependent on agriculture, adequate prices for agricultural products should be made available. Direct procurement centres for paddy, maize and cotton should be opened,” he added. Anbarasan also sought inspection of rivers, including Marudayaru, and improvement of tourist sites like Kalmaram and Ranjakudi.
Bama further sought check dams on the Kollidam river. “This is not only a long pending demand of the farmers but it will also solve the water problems in the district. Big lakes in Ariyalur, including Ponneri, Kandarathitham and Suthamalli, need to be renovated. We also have hope that he will make these developments," Bama added.