A few years ago, daily-wage earners Kala Kolapuri and Priya Mani and auto-rickshaw driver S. Ravi — all from the Irular community — were fretting over the lack of facilities in their village. However, this time, they have decided to bring the change for the better themselves.
They have filed their nominations to contest the post of panchayat president in Adigathur, a hamlet adopted by Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan. All three have a common aim — the upliftment of their community and their village, mainly through education.
Adigathur falls under the Kadambaythur block, which has 43 panchayats. It is one among the eight villages adopted by MNM in the State. Though roads and other infrastructure in the village are broadly good, the Irular colony cries for attention.
From this colony hails Kala Kollapuri, a frail-looking 47-year-old. A daily-wage agricultural labourer like her husband, she has been living in Adigathur for close to 20 years, and with the help of some villagers, she had managed to get patta for her land.
Subsequently, she joined hands with the village leaders and started helping people in her colony. "Though uneducated, I have helped my community people get ration cards, community certificates and voter identity cards. I have yearned to contest the polls for a long time. This time, since my village was reserved for the Scheduled Tribes, I decided to contest,” said Ms. Kala who is contesting the polls for the first time.
If she wins, her aim is to improve the school in the village and provide quality education to the children.
Priya Mani, a 39-year-old daily-wage earner, resides at the end of the Irular colony in a tiled-roof house. “This is the first time I am contesting the polls; I wanted my son to stand for the post of panchayat president, but he was not willing to do that,” she explains.
Her plan is to improve the infrastructure in the village. “When it rains, the roads get flooded and children and elders find it hard to walk. Besides I want to provide houses for the homeless in my community and my village,” she adds.
For 47-year-old Ravi, it was the plight of his community that drove him to contest the elections.
“I have helped the people from my community in Uthukottai, Salem and other districts to get houses. Now, I want to help my villagers,” he says.
He too wants to focus on education. “The present generation in my community is not educated. Hence, we are daily-wage earners. I don’t want the same to happen to our children,” he says.
