Resume Grama Sabha meetings in Coimbatore district: Kamal Haasan

Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief and actor Kamal Haasan on Monday, August 2, visited the office of Coimbatore District Collector GS Sameeran and gave a memorandum asking the district administration to resume Grama Sabha meetings. The actor-politician said that Grama Sabha meetings have not been held since January last year. In the memorandum, the MNM president asked the Collector to notify people about the Grama Sabha meetings seven days before they are held.

“The budget report, bank books, audit books and other important documents of the village council should be kept for public view. The demands put forward by the people for the welfare of the village should be duly recorded as resolutions. A copy of the resolutions which were passed in the meeting should be provided to the public, and individuals seeking the copy of the resolutions, should be provided with it without any delay,” he said.

The actor also suggested that awareness campaigns should be held to encourage the participation of people in the Grama Sabha meetings and that the meetings should be allowed to be documented through photographs and videos. He said that the Grama Sabha meetings should be held on a rotation basis so that it would cover all the villages under each panchayat in the district. Later, speaking to reporters, Kamal said that the government should allocate funds to Grama Sabhas with a separate annexure in the Budget.

Further, on the proposed programme of thanksgiving to the voters, Kamal said that since there were restrictions due to COVID-19, the party would soon make an announcement regarding the same. Kamal Haasan, who made his debut in politics with the 2021 TN Assembly election, contested for the MLA seat from Coimbatore South constituency. However, he lost to Vanathi Srinivasan of the BJP in a close contest. In the tightly-fought battle, Vanathi emerged victorious with a razor thin majority of 1,500 votes.