Of the three enclaves of the Union Territory of Puducherry, scattered across three states, Karaikal is the closest to its power of centre at only 140-odd kilometres by road. However, the proximity has done little to advance its cause in the last six decades, with Karaikal only limping its way past the hurdles posed by administrative apathy on the path to progress.
Karaikal’s freedom in 1954 from the yokes of the French rule was the result of a long-drawn struggle. Six decades have gone by since the referendum that made Karaikal an enclave of the Union Territory of Puducherry, but time seems to have come to a standstill here. The area, encompassed by Tamil Nadu on the land, lags behind in medical facilities, efficient local administration and an effective agriculture department, forcing the locals protest for a separate union territory status.
The landmark referendum that ended the French rule was the culmination of agitations by a host of organisations — both regional and national — like the Karaikal National Congress, the Karaikal Youth Congress (KYC) and the Merger Congress. On October 18, 1954, 170 of 178 representatives at Kizhur voted in favour of merger with the Indian Union, and it became a de facto Indian territory on November 1.
On October 21, a ‘De Facto’ transfer agreement was signed at New Delhi, transferring French establishments in Karaikal to the Government of India. Subsequently, a Treaty of Cession was inked between the two countries on May 28, 1956. Under the provisions of the ‘De Facto’ agreement and the Treaty of Cession, the region was accorded a special status, and provided administration systems such as municipal and representative councils. Karaikal enjoyed the Special Administrative Status till 1963, when the Centre promulgated the Government of Union Territories Act; and the Pondicherry Municipality Act and the Pondicherry Village and Commune Panchayat Act in 1973. These acts reduced the number of elected representatives to the Puducherry Assembly from 39 to 30. This had a significant impact on the prominence of Karaikal, as it lost seven voices out of 12 in the Assembly.
Freedom fighter and Tamrapatra awardee R Ramasrinivasan feels these acts hampered the growth of Karaikal. The KYC founder says, “An amendment to the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, is needed. The word ‘thirty’ should be replaced with ‘thirty-nine’, which would increase the number of MLAs from five to 12. This would benefit the people of Karaikal and honour the provisions of the Indo-French agreements.”
S P Selva Shanmugam, convener of Karaikal Struggle Group, feels that being a part of Puducherry has been the stumbling block to the prospects of Karaikal. “Karaikal is trailing Puducherry in many areas, such as health; tourism; local administration; agriculture; and animal husbandry among others. Number of deaths is increasing each passing year as the district government hospital lacks critical facilities like CT scan, cardiograms and the like. Rural and municipal administration became dysfunctional,” he alleges.
Fund Crunch Clips Airport Wings
A greenfield project to come up on the 562-acre Karaikal airport received in-principle clearance from the civil aviation ministry in February 2011. The construction was scheduled to commence in May 2013. The plan was grand: aircraft like Boeing 737 were to be operated from the 1,800-metre runway, and the facility was to handle 250 passengers during peak hours — to be increased to 1,000 per hour after expansion. The minor airport was to act as a connecting point for several tourist spots such as Thirunallar temple, Nagore durgah, Velankanni shrine, Vedaranyam Point Calimere bird sanctuary, Poompuhaar, Tharangambadi Danish Fort, etc. However, five years on, it still is in the proposal stage, as severe fund shortage has hit the project
Education, Tourism Take a Hit
Karaikal fares poorly in comparison to Puducherry on education front. Former agriculture minister R Kamalakannan blames official apathy for the poor show. “The infrastructure facilities at educational institutions are substandard. In the past two years, the director and joint director of education have visited Karaikal just twice,” Kamalakannan alleges. Despite potential, tourism development has moved at snail’s pace. Major attractions are either in a shambles or completely ignored. Unsafe Arasalar boat club, underdeveloped Karaikal beach are case in point