The villagers of Viralikkadu near Coimbatore still remember the name of Umanath IAS, who was recently appointed as the Chief Minister’s personal secretary, and had even given his name to their village thanks to the help he rendered to them while posted in their district.
Viralikkadu is under the Karumathampatti municipality of Coimbatore district. More than a hundred families live in the area. Until 2011, the people of the area did not have a patta. No action had been taken by the government for the people who have been living there for 30 years. There was no action taken despite them having repeatedly petitioned the government authorities asking for a patta.
In 2011, the people of the Viralikkadu village submitted a petition to Umanath seeking a patta, who was the District Collector of Coimbatore at the time. After considering this, Umanath ordered the issuance of patta to the 80 families residing there ending the plight of the people of the village.
Although Collector Umanath did his job as a government official, the people named the area ‘Collector Umanath Colony’ in his honour. Also, all government documents have been changed to ‘Umanath Colony’.
Umanath has moved on to take various responsibilities since 2011 after that, but the area has been carrying the name ‘Collector Umanath Colony’ for the last ten years. The people of ‘Collector Umanath Colony’ are happy that Umanath, who helped their hometown, has now taken on the important responsibility of being the Chief Minister’s Personal Secretary.
In light of this, the people of the area say, “We had been struggling without a patta for 30 years. In honour of Collector Umanath who granted our request and granted the patta, we named the area ‘Collector Umanath Colony’. His name appears in government documents ranging from the Aadhar card to the ration card that has been issued to us. ”
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