S. P. Velumani

S. P. Velumani, the Minister for Municipal Administration, was born on October 05, 1969, in Sugunapuram, Kuniyamuthur, Coimbatore district, to E.A Palanisamy and Mayilathal. He married Vidhya Devi on 11.03.1998. S. P. Velumani and Vidhya Devi have a son named Vikash and a daughter named Sarangi. He has an elder brother named E. A. P. Anbarasan, and a younger sibling named P. Senthilkumar. S. P. Velumani holds an M.A. degree and an M. Phil from Annamalai University. He contested as a candidate of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in 2006, 2011 and 2016, and won all three times. He was given his first ministerial portfolio in 2011 when he was made the Minister for Municipal Administration, Rural Development and Law. He currently serves as the Minister for Municipal Administration, Rural Development and Implementation of Special Programme.

From the very beginning, S. P. Velumani had always remained an AIADMK loyalist and an ardent supporter of the late Chief Minister and party president, J. Jayalalithaa. He served as Kuniyamuthur Municipal Chairman. He won the 2006 Tamil Nadu state legislature elections from Perur constituency as an AIADMK candidate. He registered impressive victories in the 2011 and 2016 elections from the newly formed constituency of Thondamuthur.

A senior leader of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, S. P Velumani is currently the AIADMK Organising Secretary and Secretary of Coimbatore Rural District.

Due to his hands-on approach to strengthening the AIADMK's position and popularity in the Coimbatore region and district, and his down-to-earth attitude when it comes to interacting with party-workers at grassroots levels, Velumani is fondly known as Thondamuthurin Thondar (‘the party worker of Thondamuthur’). Following the demise of the then Chief Minister, J. Jayalalithaa, in 2016, when the AIADMK had temporarily split into two factions, S. P. Velumani played a very important role in bringing about a reconciliation between Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and O. Paneerselvam. S. P. Velumani continues to work dedicatedly to ensure his party's success in all elections – from local bodies right up to the Lok Sabha.

• Ever since he was first made a minister in 2011, S. P. Velumani has won an impressive 107 national awards for his exemplary performance and achievements in the fields of municipal administration and rural self-governance.
• In 2018–19, he received an award from Prime Minister Narendra Modi when Tamil Nadu was ranked No. 1 state in the country in the rural hygiene survey.
• 2011-12 Rashtriya Gaurav Grama Sabha Award 1 (Medhalodai Panchayat, Ramanathapuram District)
• 2011-12 – 4 National Awards under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme; 2 district-level, 1 Panchayat Union-level, and 1 Village Panchayat level
• 2012-13 – National Award for Tamil Nadu under the category of community contribution for effective implementation
• 2012-13 – 3 National Awards under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (1 district-level, 1 Panchayat Union-level, and 1 Village Panchayat-level)
• 2012-13 – 9 National Awards for strengthening the Panchayats (6 Gram Panchayats, 2 Panchayat Unions, 1 District Panchayat Union)
• 2012-13 – 1 Rashtriya Honorary Gram Sabha Award (Nedunkulam Panchayat, Thiruvannamalai District)
• 2013-14 - 3 National Awards under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme; 1 district-level, 1 Panchayat Union-level, and 1 Village Panchayat-level
• 2014-15 – E-Panchayat Puraskar Award for the state of Tamil Nadu for excellent implementation of e-governance schemes
• 2014-15 – 9 National Awards for strengthening the Panchayats (6 Gram Panchayats, 2 District Panchayat, 2 Panchayat Unions)
• 2017-18 - 5 National Awards under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, given by the Central Government
• 2017-18 – Central Government's national award for Thuthukudi district under the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan movement
• 2018-19 – Prime Minister's National Award for Tamil Nadu for being ranked the No. 1 state in the rural Cleanliness survey
• 2018-19 – Centre's E-Panchayat Puraskar award to Tamil Nadu for the excellent implementation of information technology.
• 2018-19 – 12 national awards including ones for excellent functioning of Panchayats, skill enhancement, strengthening the Panchayat systems, and the Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha award
• 2018-19 – 8 National Awards under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (2 state-level, 4 district-level, 1 Panchayat Union-level, and 1 Village Panchayat-level)
• 2018-19 – 2 awards, including the national award for excellence, given by the state institute of rural development and panchayat raj
• 2018–19 – National-level gold medal for imparting job-related skill enhancement training under the Deendayal Upadhyay Scheme
• 2018-19 – 2 national awards for overall excellence in National Rurban Scheme
• 2019 – A staggering 31 national awards for the excellent performance of the Panchayat bodies
• S. P. Velumani and his officials have been received 107 national awards between 2012 and 2020 January, for Tamil Nadu in the field of rural self-governance

In his role as the Minister for Municipal Administration, Rural Development and Implementation of Special Programme, S. P. Velumani continues to effectively implement developmental schemes for governance bodies, from rural Panchayats, right up to the city corporation. He plays a very important role in implementing the rainwater harvesting scheme introduced by the late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, all over Tamil Nadu, both in his capacity as a minister and out of his personal interest. He earned the applause of the middle class by announcing that building permits for houses less than 2500 square feet shall henceforth be issued online. He was instrumental in completing all the groundworks to bring water from Jolarpettai to Chennai via trains, during the acute water shortage of 2019. He took steps to ensure that the Panchayat and Panchayat Unions function from their own buildings. For further accelerating the development of Coimbatore region, he initiated the plans for phase 3 of the Pillur Joint Drinking Water Scheme, and for the construction of the unified bus stand at Vellaloor. He toured the entire state of Tamil Nadu to inspect the water bodies’ repair and renovation schemes, launched by Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami and ensured the successful execution of the ambitious and crucial project. On behalf of the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, for the first time in India, he also set up sewage treatment plants at Kodungaiyur and Koyambedu, with an output of 45 million liters.

In the midst of handling his responsibilities as a minister and as a senior leader and AIADMK party secretary, S. P. Velumani went to New Delhi, met the central ministers and submitted petitions seeking the payment of arrear dues that the center owed the ministry of municipal administration. S. P. Velumani continues to enjoy the goodwill of the people of Thondamuthur constituency, cutting across religion, caste and political affiliations. He negotiated amicably with the long-time encroachers of Coimbatore city lands, convinced them to relocate, and provided alternative housing options in other parts of the city. S. P. Velumani has an interesting campaign strategy. He gets folk artistes to perform the traditional Oyilattam dance while he campaigns for votes in the Coimbatore region.

1. "Namakaaga SPV".
   
2. "For the first time in India, 45 million litre sewage treatment plants were set up in Kodungaiyur and Koyambedu, on behalf of the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board". Maalai Malar. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
   
3. "Phase 3 sewage treatment plant inaugurated in Koyambedu". Dinakaran. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
   
4. "Plans to bring water from Jolarpettai via train to meet the water requirements of Chennai". Dinamalar. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
   
5. "Rainwater harvesting system implemented in all the residential buildings in Chennai in order to speed up the rainwater harvesting works". Asianet News Tamil. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
   
6. "Water bodies under Panchayat's maintenance all over Tamil Nadu were desilted and rainwater harvesting works successfully completed". Dinamalar. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
   
7. "Work in progress to construct a 150 million litre sea water desalination plant in Nemmeli". Daily Thanthi. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
   
8. "Announcement and implementation of scheme to issue online building plan approvals for residential buildings". The Hindu Tamil. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
   
9. "Tamil Nadu receives national award for the best state to implement Swachh Bharat plans at Panchayat level". Vikatan. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
   
10. "Tamil Nadu adjudged best state under Swachh Bharat scheme". Times Now Tamil. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
    
11. "PM Modi awards minister S.P. Velumani". The Main News. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
    
12. "Tamil Nadu given special honours for hygiene in rural area, under the Swachh Bharat scheme: Minister S.P. Velumani receives award from the Prime Minister". The Hindu Tamil. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
    
13. "Awareness campaign launched with students of Chennai Corporation School as cleanliness ambassadors". The Main News. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
    
14. "Students campaign to create cleanliness awareness: S.P. Velumani inaugurates". Makkal Kural. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
    
15. "40,000 students appointed as cleanliness ambassadors…civic activities through awareness videos". News18 Tamil. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
    
16. "Student Cleanliness Ambassadors! Chennai Corporation's novel video!". Nakkeeran. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
    
17. "For the first time in India, work commences to decide prices based on the quantity of solid wastes collected from residences, processed and transported to dump sites". Makkal Kural. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
    
18. "Spanish company given work orders to process Chennai's solid wastes, for the first time in India". The Main News. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
    
19. "12 national awards given to the ministry of municipal administration by the Centre, for categories including excellent implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme". Dinamalar. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
    
20. "Good governance in self-governance: Minister S.P. Velumani wins 13 awards in a single day!". The Main News. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
    
21. "Tamil Nadu wins 12 national awards!!! Minister S.P. Velumani thrilled". The Main News. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
    
22. "Property tax hike hated: Minister S.P. Velumani". The Main News. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
    
23. "Tamil Nadu government wins e-Panchayat award for e-Governance scheme". The Hindu Tamil. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
    
24. "Tamil Nadu government wins award for excellence in e-governance". News 7 Tamil. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
    
25. "Tamil Nadu government wins e-Panchayat Puraskar award". Dinamani. Retrieved 24 April 2015.