due to the lack of favourable geographical and climatic conditions. Municipal administration and politics The Sivakasi municipality has 33 wards and there is an elected councillor for each of those wards. The functions of the municipality are devolved into six departments: general administration/personnel, Engineering, Revenue, Public Health, city planning and Information Technology (IT). All these departments are under the control of a Municipal Commissioner who is the executive head. The legislative powers are vested in a body of 33 members, one each from the 33 wards. The legislative body is headed by an elected Chairperson assisted by a Deputy Chairperson. On 24 August 2021, the government announced the upgrading of Sivakasi town to Sivakasi City Municipal Corporation. Sivakasi comes under the Sivakasi assembly constituency and it elects a member to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly once every five years. From the 1977 elections, All India Anna Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) won the assembly seat five times (in 1980, 1984,1991,2011 and 2016 elections); Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) twice (1996, 2001). The seat was won once by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK, 1989), Janata Party (1977), and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK, 2006). The current MLA of the constituency is AMSG. ASHOKAN from Indian National Congress. During the 1957 elections, Sivakasi was a part of Srivilliputhur constituency and was held by the Indian National Congress and an independent after the by-elections. During the 1962 elections, the town was a part of Aruppukkottai constituency and was held by the Forward Block party. Since 1967, the town has been a part of Virudhunagar Lok Sabha constituency; the constituency was won by AIADMK five times (1980, 1984, 1989, 1991, and 2014), MDMK three times (1998, 1999, and 2004), and once each by Swathanthara Party (1967), DMK (1971), INC (1977), and Communist Party of India (CPI, 1996). The current Member of Parliament from the constituency is Manicka Tagore from the Indian National Congress. Law and order in the town are maintained by the Sivakasi subdivision of the Tamil Nadu Police headed by a Deputy Superintendent. There are three police stations in the town, one of them being an all-women police station. There are special units like prohibition enforcement, district crime, social justice and human rights, district crime records and special branch that operate at the district level police division headed by a Superintendent of Police. Education and utility services In 2011, there were five government schools: two