Ramanathapuram residents demand corporation status to fix administrative gridlock

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A view of the Municipal Corporation office in Ramanathapuram. | Photo Credit: L, BALACHANDAR

Amid mounting administrative bottlenecks and infrastructure neglect, residents are stepping up demand for a major structural overhaul in Ramanathapuram and upgrade of the town from a municipality to a corporation.

Highlighting a striking administrative anomaly, N. Madhavan, advocate, said several of the district’s most critical government headquarters were technically situated within the neighbouring Thiruvadanai rather than in Ramanathapuram constituency they actually serve.

The heart of the district’s governance, including the District Collectorate complex, Government Medical College Hospital, District Court, and half of the Ramanathapuram union offices, were outside the city’s immediate administrative control.

Since the high-profile institutions were physically located in Thiruvadanai constituency, the statutory authority to approve local infrastructure improvements and development projects rested solely with the Thiruvadanai representative, creating significant bureaucratic red tapism and halting regional growth.

Furthermore, even though Thiruvadanai constituency covered half of the town, the areas were consistently denied standard municipal benefits. The administrative mismatch had generated a visible divide in the quality of development between the two halves of the town. In order to resolve the deep-seated issue, the local municipality — whose borders remained completely stagnant and unchanged for over 55 years— must finally be expanded and upgraded to a corporation.

He also recommended that the next delimitation exercise widen the Ramanathapuram constituency to properly absorb the essential government administrative hubs. Crucial fundamental issues plaguing the region, specifically long-pending water scarcity and systemic agricultural procurement hurdles, had reportedly not even been raised for discussion in the State Assembly.

Since the urgent needs remained unvoiced at the legislative level, residents and farmers continued to be overlooked, with no substantive long-term solutions being proposed to alleviate their daily plight.

Mr. Madhavan said that fulfilling the demand to upgrade the town into a corporation would help in resolving most of the issues tied to its lagging development

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