“When welfare schemes don’t reach the last mile, it is always the under privileged who are deprived,” says J. Thiruvengadam, pensively.

An office-bearer of the farmers’ body in Kamsalapuram village in Madurantakam Taluk, Mr. Thiruvengadam has a straight take for the candidates seeking election from the Madurantakam Assembly Constituency in the upcoming polls: “You tune your machinery to reach the tail end, you will ensure that benefits trickle down to subsistence farmers, those with minor landholdings, and those rearing livestock.”

Although barely 100 km from the capital city of Chennai, Madurantakam is a predominantly agrarian region with rice being the primary crop, while a section of farmers in Vaiyavoor region grow vegetables as well.

The Agriculture Department does make several facilities, like equipment and seeds, available to the farmers, but it is not always what they want. “The farmers are often torn between what they want and what they are offered. Sometimes, the department procures a variety of seed which is not the seed of choice for the farmers. Many reluctantly accept what is being offered,” Mr. Thiruvengadam added. “The department sometimes offered 100 power tillers, but the demand would be much more. Invariably, farmers with smaller landholdings lose out in the race.”

K. Damodaran of Veeranakunnam village agrees, adding: “The MLA brings us schemes, but the delivery of those schemes depend on the efficiency of the panchayat ward members. If they implement the schemes partially while claiming to have completed the work, it does not benefit the people but only those in power. When they come seeking votes, we will ask them tough questions.”

The Direct Procurement Centres (DPCs) set up by the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation to procure paddy directly from the farmers are often overburdened during the peak season.

Payments delayed

J. Damodaran, a farmer from Vaiyavoor, says, “During the peak season, the DPCs find it difficult to process and move the large volume of paddy that farmers deposit there. Payments are often delayed too, sometimes for over a month to three months. It would be great if steps are taken to process this faster.”

Farmlands in Madurantakam receive water through a network of over 500 irrigation tanks, the largest of them being the Madurantakam Lake. It irrigates over 2,500 acres of land spread across 10 villages.

Spillway constructed

It was recently spruced up, and a controlled spillway was built with 12 shutters to control the excess water discharge during heavy inflows.

A large number of farmers also depend on wells to water their crop, which makes the monsoon a crucial factor. Their main crop season is between December and March.

While the constituency has a sizeable Scheduled Caste population, two per cent of its population are tribals, especially the Irulas, a particularly vulnerable tribal group known for their deep knowledge of snakes.

Many of them continue to face stigmatisation and live in abject poverty. With barely any landholdings, they often find themselves outside the ambit of government schemes meant for the underprivileged.

“A few of us have been given pattas, but most of us live in makeshift shacks covered with tarpaulin sheets, palm fronds and other dried up foliage,” says S. Prakash.

After completing school, he has been taking up odd jobs in farmlands nearby to supplement family income.

“These are low-lying areas and we are forced to shift to evacuee camps in the nearby school during monsoon,” he adds. There have been discussions to rehabilitate them to patta lands nearby but it’s yet to be implemented.

Political past

Politically, it is one of those constituencies where both the Dravidian giants have won almost equal number of times. This time, the sitting AIADMK MLA, K. Maragatham, is seeking re-election while the DMK has fielded S. Ponmalar.

The field has been made interesting by the entry of the TVK candidate, E. Ezhil Catherine, who is the daughter of former Union Minister Dalit R. Ezhilmalai. The Naam Tamilar Katchi has fielded Janakiraman as its candidate.

In 2021, the AIADMK had a washout in the KTCC (Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu, and Chennai) region with Madurantakam being the only constituency where it set a foot at.