In 2018, M Velmurugan was returning from work when he noticed a gram sabha meeting taking place in a village on the outskirts of Bengaluru. Residents were speaking about local problems and making demands before the authorities. The meeting made an impression on him. He began wondering why people in his own village, Vellur in Tamil Nadu’s Virudhunagar district, were not participating in similar meetings.That observation eventually led to the formation of a 43-member civic association that now works on local issues ranging from drinking water and pollution to burial-ground facilities and environmental awareness.As reported by The New Indian Express, Velmurugan was working a regular 9-to-5 corporate job when he first came across the gram sabha meeting. The 35-year-old MBA graduate later travelled to villages in Goa and Kerala as part of his work, where he saw residents taking part in discussions about their communities.When he asked about gram sabha meetings in Vellur, which has more than 6,500 residents across seven villages, he learnt that such meetings were rarely convened. He approached district officials and joined hands with a few residents to encourage people to attend the next meeting, scheduled for August 15, 2018.The group pooled its money to print and distribute ‘manjappais’ cloth bags carrying messages about the importance of gram sabha meetings. The effort helped bring more residents to the meeting.
From a small campaign to a 43-member association
The initial initiative gradually developed into an organisation called Vellur Ooratchi Unarvugal Kuzhu. It was later renamed Vellur Makkal Nala Sangam and now has 43 members working to address civic problems in the panchayat. As the work expanded, Velmurugan learnt to use the Chief Minister’s Special Cell and the Right to Information (RTI) process to seek information and follow up on complaints. He said the Chief Minister’s Special Cell had helped the group receive quick responses about the status of projects and other queries.
Following up on drinking water and burial-ground facilities
One of the issues the association took up was the irregular drinking water supply. Although hundreds of households had water connections, many were not receiving water regularly and had to fetch it from other areas. Velmurugan repeatedly approached officials until the supply was restored. He also helped secure new water tanks and get old, disused tanks repaired.Another long-standing concern involved the lack of a dedicated burial ground for Scheduled Caste residents of Ammankovilpatti. Residents had been using an open space for burials, but it became waterlogged during the monsoon. Finding an alternative site was difficult because the existing burial ground was on watercourse poramboke land.After years of petitions to the district administration and the Chief Minister’s Special Cell, land was recently allotted and funds were sanctioned for the proposed facilities, according to The New Indian Express.
Pollution complaints lead to action
The association also took up complaints about factories allegedly dumping waste into nearby waterbodies. The complaints led the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to issue show-cause notices and impose fines on the factories concerned. Velmurugan also worked to ensure that officials from relevant government departments attended gram sabha meetings regularly, giving residents an opportunity to raise their concerns directly.
Nearly 700 saplings nurtured by schoolchildren
The group’s work has extended to environmental awareness among children. It coordinates programmes at local government schools, including sessions on sanitation, hygiene, plastic reduction and the use of cloth bags. The Forest Department distributed two saplings to each student, and the children have nurtured nearly 700 saplings so far, J Anbuselvan, headmaster of Vellur Panchayat Union Primary School, told The New Indian Express.The initiative has therefore involved not only residents and government officials but also schoolchildren, who have been encouraged to care for the plants they received.
