Tamil Nadu: Villagers attend Gram Sabha meetings wearing black clothes to demand better rural facilities.

Chennai: In Gram Sabha meetings held on Republic Day in Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu districts, villagers arrived wearing black shirts and carrying black flags to protest against their pending demands. In Kunnavakkam panchayat in Kancheepuram, residents of Nachupet village carried black flags and demanded better road infrastructure. According to the residents of Nachupet, the village has 100 houses, but only a mud road that becomes unusable during the rainy season, making it difficult for children to buy essential supplies or go to school. They also claimed that despite repeated petitions to the District Collector’s office, Block Development Officers, and the Uthiramerur Tahsildar, no action has been taken.
The protesters, mostly women, claimed that they had submitted petitions at previous Gram Sabha meetings as well, but no action was taken. When panchayat officials responded that the roads come under the administration, the women said they had also approached the District Collector’s office, but to no avail. The villagers then walked out of the meeting, blocked the Kunnavakkam road, and announced that they would submit petitions again at the district grievance redressal meeting. However, they warned that if no action is taken, they would return their voter IDs, Aadhaar cards, and ration cards and boycott the upcoming elections. Meanwhile, in Chengalpattu district, a separate protest took place during the Gram Sabha meeting in Keerapakkam panchayat.
About 50 youths attended the meeting wearing black shirts and protested against a proposed shooting training center on a ground in their village. They said that the land has been used as a playground by the locals for about 20 years. However, without consulting the public, the District Collector laid the foundation stone for a shooting training facility at the site on December 31. The youths argued that constructing a shooting training center in a residential area could pose a danger to the villagers. They demanded that the facility be shifted elsewhere and that the ground continue to be used as a playground. They also requested that their objections be formally discussed and recorded in the Gram Sabha (village council) proceedings. Panchayat officials assured them that their concerns would be included in the meeting’s resolutions, after which the young people participated in the meeting.