Nagapattinam District - Administration

Administration

The are 32 districts in Tamil Nadu and for revenue administration purposes, each district is divided into revenue divisions, which are further divided to Talukas. Each of these Taluks have a list of revenue villages under them and is headed by a Tahsildar. Developmental administration of the district is carried out by Panchayat Unions (or Town Panchayats) in rural areas. These panchayat unions have a set of panchayat villages under them. In urban areas, the governance is done by municipal corporations, municipalities or town panchayats based on the size of the town and each of these have a set of wards under them. The functions of the municipality are devolved into six departments: general administration/personnel, Engineering, Revenue, Public Health, Town planning and Information Technology (IT). The municipalities are administered by a Municipal Commissioner who is the executive head. The legislative powers are vested in a body elected members from each ward of the municipality. The legislative body is headed by an elected Chairperson assisted by a Deputy Chairperson.

Nagapattinam District was formerly a part of Thanjavur District. The district boundary is shared by Tiruvarur, Karaikal, Tanjore and Cuddalore districts. Its population at the 2001 Census was nearly 1.5 million. The district has seven taluks, eleven administrative blocks eight town panchayats and four municipalities. Five of the talukas are coastal, and all are named after their main towns, which are their administrative centres. From north to south, they are Sirkazhi, Tharangambadi, Mayiladuthurai (non-coastal), Nagapattinam, Kilvelur, Thirukkuvalai (non-coastal), and Vedaranyam. It is bordered on the east by the Bay of Bengal and on the south by the Palk Strait. On the coast between Tharamgambadi and Nagapattinam lies the small district of Karaikal, an enclave belonging administratively to the Puducherry Union Territory. This is the only district in Tamil Nadu to be formed out of two disjoint regions. The district headquarters Nagapattinam is located in the southern part which is less populated than the northern one.