VIRUDHUNAGAR: It was a typical weekday in 2018. M Velmurugan was returning from his routine 9-to-5 corporate job, when he caught a glimpse of a gram sabha meeting on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
He noticed residents of a village voicing their concerns and demands at the meeting. The sight stayed with the 35-year-old MBA graduate. As work took him to different villages in Goa and Kerala, he chanced upon similar gatherings and observed how people participated in decisions concerning local communities.
When Velmurugan inquired about grama sabha meetings in Vellur, home to over 6,500 people across seven villages, he learnt that they were rarely convened. Determined to change this, he approached district officials. He then joined hands with a few locals to encourage greater participation in the next meeting scheduled for August 15, 2018.
“We pooled money, printed manjappais (cloth bags) carrying messages on the importance of grama sabha meetings, and distributed them. The meeting witnessed a wider participation,” Velmurugan said.
What began as a small effort to bring villagers to a public meeting gradually grew into the Vellur Ooratchi Unarvugal Kuzhu, later renamed as Vellur Makkal Nala Sangam. The association now has 43 members, working to address civic issues in the panchayat. With time, the IT employee learnt to use the Chief Minister’s Special Cell and RTI procedures to seek information and pursue complaints. “We got immediate responses on the status of projects and other queries through the CM cell back then,” he said.
When asked about his journey so far, Velmurugan recollects an incident that was one of his greatest challenges as well as an achievement. The issue was about lack of a dedicated burial ground for SC residents of Ammankovilpatti. Residents had been using an open space for burials, but during the monsoon, the area became waterlogged. Finding an alternative site was difficult because the existing burial ground lay on watercourse poramboke land. After years of petitions to the district administration and the CM cell, land was recently allotted and funds were sanctioned for the proposed facilities.
The village’s other major issues included inadequate drinking water facilities, forcing villagers to fetch water from other areas. Another concern was factories allegedly dumping waste into nearby waterbodies.
E Mathavan (24), a resident of the panchayat, said, “Hundreds of households with water connections were not receiving regular supply. Velmurugan took up the issue with officials and continued following it up until the supply was restored. He also helped get new water tanks and old, disused tanks repaired.”
Complaints about the pollution resulted in the TNPCB issuing showcause notices and imposing fines on the factories concerned. Velmurugan also ensured officials from relevant departments attend grama sabha meetings on a regular basis.
To instil environmental awareness among kids, the organisation also coordinates programmes at local government schools. Vellur Panchayat Union Primary School headmaster J Anbuselvan said Velmurugan facilitated awareness sessions with staff from the primary health centre and officials of TNPCB on sanitation, hygiene, eradication of plastic and the use of manjappais. “The forest department also distributed two saplings to each student, and the children have nurtured nearly 700 saplings so far,” Anbuselvan said.
Velmurugan’s journey from a corporate cubicle to grassroots work shows that sometimes taking a pause from your daily routine life also leads you to different paths, offering a deeper sense of comfort and fulfilment.
(Edited by Srestha Choudhury)
