MALAPPURAM: Chief Minister V D Satheesan’s announcement that the government will seriously examine the demand for a separate Muvattupuzha district has lent a renewed push to calls for the bifurcation of Malappuram district.
Though the UDF leadership in Malappuram had approached the CM seeking the district’s bifurcation earlier, there was no official response. The latest development has now prompted the IUML, the second-largest UDDF constituent, to officially step up its demand.
Home to around 44.8 lakh people as per the 2011 Census, Malappuram is significantly more populous than Ernakulam, which has a population of 32.28 lakh. “If population is the criterion, Malappuram can be divided into as many as three districts,” said IUML state general secretary P M A Salam, while stressing on equitable distribution of government resources and facilities among districts based on population and administrative requirements.
District UDF leaders said a statewide delimitation committee will be formed and expressed confidence of Malappuram getting priority. IUML district secretary Abdul Hameed said Malappuram’s delimitation has been a matter raised for years, though never officially by the IUML as it did not want to exert pressure on the government.
“However, with the government deciding to form a delimitation panel to assess the population and resource distribution ratio of each district, we are confident Malappuram will be given priority. It is true Malappuram is facing severe administrative crisis as there are not enough resources to cater to its population. We hope the Satheesan government’s stand will bring a positive outcome,” Hameed said.
The Congress leadership, too, expressed confidence that Malappuram and Muvattupuzha will receive equal consideration in the proposed exercise. “We had met the chief minister on Malappuram’s bifurcation and he expressed strong support to our demand. We are confident the delimitation panel will give priority to Malappuram,” said KPCC secretary and Malappuram UDF committee chairman K P Abdul Majeed.
Various political and religious organisations, including SDPI, Welfare Party of India and both factions of Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, have been demanding the bifurcation of Malappuram for years. SDPI was among the first political parties to raise the demand. Both Samastha factions had also passed resolutions supporting Malappuram’s bifurcation at their respective centenary celebrations.