Chinnarampatti residents get new panchayat office

Residents of Chinnarampatti, near Tirupattur, rejoice as new panchayat office is inaugurated. Joint efforts of residents and district admin led to new building, built on 2,200 sq.ft of land provided by residents. Costing ₹29.4 lakh, it has meeting hall, cabins, records room, waiting hall, toilets, ramps and rainwater harvesting systems.

Residents of Chinnarampatti, a village in Kandali panchayat union near Tirupattur town, were overjoyed on Wednesday following the inauguration of the new panchayat office in the village.

Accompanied by A. Nallathambi, MLA (Tirupattur), Collector D. Bhaskara Pandian inaugurated the building, which was built on 2,200 sq.ft of land that was provided by the residents by pooling their resources. “The old dilapidated office was cramped with a leaky roof and damaged walls. With joint efforts of residents and district administration, we were able to have a new and safe panchayat office now,” said K. Shanmugam, president, Chinnarampatti

Located amidst paddy fields and banana cultivation, Chinnarampatti consists of remote hamlets such as Nayakanur, Mangalapalli, Pananthoppu, Karakarankottai and Krishnapuram with 2,024 residents in its nine wards on the Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh border.

Unlike other villages in Kandali block, most of the residents in Chinnarampatti are graduates and government staff. “Of total 41 village panchayats in the block, only four or five panchayats including Chinnarampatti have their own buildings. Funds from various schemes were roped in to provide such facilities to other panchayats,” said K.M. Nehru, Block Development Officer (BDO), Kandali block.

Unlike its old single-room panchayat office, the new building, which was built at a cost of ₹29.4 lakh under Anaithu Grama Anna Marumalarchi Thittam (AMT - 11) scheme, has meeting hall for monthly council meeting, separate cabins for president and secretary of the panchayat. Records room and waiting hall for visitors are also part of the new office. It has separate toilets for men, women and persons with disabilities. Ramps for persons with disabilities and rainwater harvesting systems are also provided.