Namakkal municipality lacks basic infrastructural facilities like drains and proper streetlights
A poultry farm in Namakkal. (Photo: File/DC archives)
NAMAKKAL: In Namakkal, the land of eggs and chicken, former Union health minister and sitting DMK MP S. Gandhiselvan is in a soup of sorts. Locked in a multi-cornered battle and faced with the anti-incumbency factor, the ex-minister is fighting hard to hold on to the slippery turf.
The Lok Sabha polls have come at the wrong time for him as the poultry hub is reeling under dismally low egg prices, with egg prices crashing from Rs 4 to about Rs 2 now. “We have been demanding a cold storage facility to preserve eggs when the demand dips, and that Namakkal be declared as a separate poultry zone. No efforts have been taken for this so far,” rues Mr N. Illango, secretary of the Poultry Farmers Association.
Added to this is the danger of avian flu elsewhere in India and importing countries immediately imposing a ban on buying eggs from all of India. “Unless Namakkal is declared as a special egg zone, export of eggs cannot be done in a big way,” adds Mr Illango.
Another key issue haunting the poultry hub which produces 3 lakh eggs a day is the skyrocketing prices of poultry feed.
“We had made several pleas to DMK MP Gandhiselvan when he was Union minister totake steps to supply discarded wheat and maize flour at the Food Corporation of India godowns to poultry owners for making poultry feed, No steps were taken regarding this either,” laments a poultry farmer.
The lorry business is also facing a rough patch in this truckers town with truck operators claiming a drastic drop in business.
“Diesel prices are being frequently increased and our operational cost is also soaring, affecting our business badly. The government has to fix lorry tariff on the lines of bus fares,” says Mr K. Nallathambi, president of the Namakkal Lorry Owners’ Federation.
The former minister is also facing flak for failing to start a government medical college in Namakkal despite holding the health portfolio and for not bringing in more trains to Namakkal.
“He promised a ring road for Namakkal but has not kept his word. Only three trains stop at Namakkal railway station. We need more rail work,” says Mr S. Periyasamy, president, Namakkal district chamber of commerce.
The newly-expanded Namakkal municipality lacks even basic infrastructural facilities like drains and proper streetlights, he says.
Besides, local DMK leader K.P.Ramalingam, a key supporter of M.K. Alagiri, is not working for Gandhiselvan who is a Stalin acolyte.
Gandhiselvan’s advantage is that he hails from the Vellala Gounder community who are the dominant caste in Namakkal parliamentary constituency, while his main rival, AIADMK’s P.R. Sundaram is a Nattu Gounder. The DMK is banking on the support of Gounders, Dalits and Muslims, while the AIADMK is harping on “making Amma the next PM”.
The other prominent candidates are DMDK candidate S.K. Vel and G.R. Subramaniam of the Congress.
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