CORD Siruvani

The CORD Siruvani Office in Thennamanullur

Located in the Thenammullur panchayat outside of Coimbatore, the CORD Siruvani office is our ‘base camp’, where many books, materials, documents, and files surrounding Dr. Meera Krishna’s work have been collected.

Introducing Dr. Meera Krishna

A gynecologist by training, Dr. Meera Krishna is the founder and director of the CORD site at Siruvani. Training in Sidhbari as a CORD worker after completing her medical education at Goa university, Dr. Meera Krishna has been working with the people of Thennamanullur for the past 7 years. Referred to by the volunteers as Dr. Meera, she is regarded widely as a reliable caretaker by the villagers.

Dr. Meera is someone who lives a life of sacrifice and service, and always gives more than what she takes.  The level of dynamism, energy, and commitment she exemplifies is inspiring, an empowerment that all those who volunteer with her experience. A role model, leader, and mother figure, Dr. Meera is the one who makes our work with CORD Siruvani possible.

Location and reach of CORD Siruvani:

CORD Siruvani is located in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu is broken up into a variety of political constituencies called districts, one of which is the Coimbatore district. Within the Coimbatore district are a variety of blocks, one of which is the Thondamathur block. The Thondamathur block is then broken into 32 panchayats, or local governing bodies, one of which is the Thennamanullur panchayat. In a majority of its projects, CORD Siruvani focuses on supporting the villages within the 5 villages of the Thennamanullur panchayat. . The villages in the Thennamanullur panchayat are Thennamanullur, Puttur, Pondai Balayam, Sandai Kovinda Balaiyam, and Kaleemaidu.

Siruvani is the name of the general region, stretched along the Siruvani main road, where the CORD Siruvani office is located.

A map of the Thondamathur block

According the Government Primary Health Center, there are a total of 708 families in Thennamanullur, divided into three sociopolitically distinctive groups.  The scheduled caste group, referring to dalits or ‘untouchables’, is the least privileged, and obtains free services from the government. These include free electricity, free access to water, and free electrical appliances such as televisions and radios. The remaining categories include the Backwards communities, usually consisting of farmers, and the scheduled tribe community. 

Health-Related Statistics of the Region

The state government of Tamil Nadu is responsible for creating and maintaining several health centers across the state. Each block within every district must have and maintain a Government Primary Health Center(GPHC).

A front view of the Government Public Health Center in Pooluvumpatty

In addition, 1-2 panchayats share a health sub-center, totaling out to there being 19 health sub centers. The GPHC for the Thondamathur block contains a variety of health records corresponding to the entire block. These statistics, updated for the 2013-2014 year, are listed below:

-There are 136,683 people living in the entire Thondamathur block.

-The birth rate is 13.7 births per year while the death rate is 7.1 deaths per year.

-As of June 2013, the infant mortality rate is 26.3 per 1000 births.

-The average birth weight is 3 kg, an increase from last year’s 2.5 kg. 

All of these statistics were able to be collected by the courtesy of the chief civil surgeon, Dr. Kanagarani and staff at the GPHC in Pooluvumpatty.