The Grama Niladhari conference in madurai district Paapapatti, attended by chief minister MK stalin, is viewed as a significant milestone in the DMK's social justice agenda. There is a fundamental reason why he chose Paapapatti, other from the status of tamil Nadu's first chief minister who attended a village council meeting. local elections were held in the disputed separate panchayat during the previous DMK government led by M. Karunanidhi, and one member of the list was elected as the leader.
Until then, conducting fair local government elections in the four independent panchayats of Paapapatti, neighbouring Keerippatti, Nattarmangalam, and Kottakatchiyenthal in Virudhunagar district had been a huge difficulty for the district administration. Ilangovan Rajasekaran, a senior journalist at the time, disclosing to the world through his articles in 'The Hindu' that democracy in these panchayats was Gaelic jargon.
For the ten years from 1996 to 2006, the State election commission will hold elections every six months. These panchayats have been unable to hold elections 19 times due to pressure from the ruling castes. He claimed that the governing caste, the Marxists and the Liberation Tigers of tamil Eelam (LTTE), defeated the list of ethnic group's candidates with the help of a 'dummy' candidate fielded on their behalf and compelled him to retire. The tamil Nadu government, led by Jayalalithaa, does not take the issue seriously.
The Karunanidhi-led DMK government, which regained power in 2006, cited the inability to hold elections for the past ten years to elect scheduled tribes as village heads and ensure equity. Only the panchayats were granted an extension.
The fact that chief minister stalin travelled to Paapapatti on the eve of Gandhi's birthday to attend a village council meeting demonstrates that he is following in his father's footsteps in terms of equity and social justice, according to Ilangovan. stalin claimed that democracy had developed out of the villages and that he had come to Paapapatti because equality was the cornerstone for progress after hearing the people's problems at the village council meeting.
In his speech, stalin mentioned that Rs 80 lakh had been set aside for development money and Rs 20 lakh had been set aside at the party level, as well as announcing development projects totalling Rs one crore. The function was presided over by Muruganantham, the Scheduled Tribe's panchayat chief.
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