KARAIKAL is only 160 km away from Puducherry — easily nearer than its two counterparts, Mahe and Yanam. Yet, its people are the most dissatisfied among the lot. Reason: under-development. In fact, Karaikal is the most backward region among the UT’s four enclaves.
Before its merger on November 1, 1954, with Pondicherry (as it was then called), Karaikal had a separate administrative set-up under the French governor. Subsequent to its Independence, on August 16, 1962, when the merger was formalised, there came a new administrative setup, courtesy the creation of the UT to which it was joined. “Since then, Karaikal has lost its separate identity. We have to depend on Puducherry for everything,” says S P Selvashanmugham, convenor of the Karaikal Struggle Group, a small unit seeking separate union territory status for Karaikal.
“Lack of care and delay in completing works due to administrative difficulty with Puducherry have contributed to our woes,” he adds.
The other enclaves did face similar problems, but they overcame them through the MLAs who not only got the schemes and works approved, but also pursued files and cut red tapes. E Valsaraj has been instrumental in achieving a lot For Mahe over two decades as an MLA, and now as the home minister. So has revenue minister Malladi Krishna Rao, who played a crucial role in transforming Yanam. However, the six MLAs elected from Karaikal over the years have failed to play such vital roles.
The government has made amends by creating a separate revenue district for Karaikal for better administration and quick execution of works, but nothing has changed much. The budget for 2008-09 made proposal for 12 major schemes for Karaikal region involving a total cost of Rs 275 crore. None has been implemented so far. Also, new posts under the set-up are yet to be created despite delegating financial powers. “The government has written to Ministry of Home Affairs for this,” says Karaikal district collector N Vasanthakumar.
Another problem is connectivity. It has only roads — and they are bad too. The place is linked neither by rail nor by air. Work has begun on a broad-gauge link to Nagore, but paucity of funds has been hampering the work.
Employment is another issue with the youths as they are unable to compete with their Puducherry counterparts in securing government jobs. Though regional reservation in jobs was attempted, it did not materialise. This has led to a desire for acquiring French nationality, and flying to France for a better living. There is thus a great desire for marriage with a French national. Ironic, considering that their forefathers had given up French nationality in favour of Indian citizenship during merger.
Lack of interest among the employees posted from Puducherry has kept the territory backward. A majority of them spend just three to four days in Karaikal and remain in Puducherry on the pretext of meetings and other official sanctions and managed to get transferred back at the earliest. Lack of teachers in schools has already affected the students, especially in higher education.
Though the government introduced regional allocation for engineering and medical, it has been challenged in the high court. Similar is the case in the government general hospital which, despite having good infrastructure and equipment, mans too few specialist doctors and technicians. “We have to take patients with cardiac ailments, trauma cases to either Thanjavur or Trichy or Puducherry. Many die on the way,” says former MLA R Kamalakannan.
“Well, it is getting better now,’’ shrugs leader of the opposition A M H Nazeem, elected from Karaikal. ‘‘We still need a medical college in the private-public partnership mode so as to avail of all facilities. We also need a special economic zone to draw industries,’’ he adds.
debjani@epmltd.com
