With just a few months to go for the Lok Sabha polls, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Monday launched ‘Makkaludan Mudhalvar’, a scheme aimed at disposing off grievances or petitions filed by people on merit within 30 days.
The choice of the location – Coimbatore — for the much-hyped scheme was also not lost on anyone as the ruling DMK makes a concerted effort to woo the people in western Tamil Nadu, which overwhelmingly voted for the AIADMK-BJP alliance in the 2021 polls.
Launching the scheme which he said will be under his direct control, Stalin announced the special camps will be conducted in phases in all 38 districts in the state to collect petitions from people concerning various departments and issues. The first phase will cover the rain-hit districts of Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram, and Chengalpattu where as many as 1,745 camps will be conducted between the first and last weeks of January 2024, Stalin added.
“In the second phase, such camps will be conducted in rural areas in the remaining 34 districts. I give an assurance to the people that all petitions will be scrutinised by the government and will be implemented if there is merit in them. All documents will be uploaded on a website dedicated to this scheme,” Stalin said in his speech.
He also asked officials to be considerate to people’s requests and try as much as possible to help identify solutions for their problems. Stalin said the government has identified that people have some difficulties in accessing the services offered by 13 departments and that this scheme will help them.
Talking about the Chennai floods, Stalin claimed that his government ensured that normalcy returned to several areas in Chennai within a day after the rains under the influence of Cyclone Michaung stopped. While traffic on major roads resumed the next day, the government restored power supply to a majority of the areas within three days.
The launch of the scheme also comes amid criticism that the DMK dispensation didn’t fulfill the expectations of the people by fast-tracking the relief operations in several localities in south and north Chennai. While the government machinery was working in full-swing, water logging in several areas in north Chennai were cleared only after four days with people holding impromptu protests at several places and confronting ministers and Chennai Mayor R Priya.
The DMK has been trying to woo people in Coimbatore and other districts in western Tamil Nadu as the region, in the past three assembly elections, preferred the AIADMK. However, in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the DMK swept the whole region.
The outreach to the western region also comes at a time the BJP is making serious efforts to make inroads in the region with its state chief K Annamalai hailing from the area.
(Published 18 December 2023, 13:36 IST)