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Wikipedia / Unnikulam

Unnikulam is a gram panchayat in Thamarassery taluk of Kozhikode district, in the Indian state of Kerala. It is part of the Balussery block panchayat and comprises the two revenue villages of Unnikulam and Sivapuram. Ekarool is the administrative headquarters, while Ekarool and Poonoor are the principal local centres. State Highway 34 passes through both places.

The panchayat covers . The 2011 census recorded 49,348 residents in 11,713 households.

Geography and administration

Unnikulam Grama Panchayat consists of the revenue villages of Unnikulam and Sivapuram. The Department of Panchayats lists its area as and its headquarters at Ekarool.

The Poonoor River flows through Poonoor and forms part of the local drainage system. The town of Poonoor lies on the river and on State Highway 34, between Balussery and Thamarassery. A state public-works project sanctioned a bridge across the river at Karuvattakkadavu, between Unnikulam and Thamarassery grama panchayats.

Following the delimitation used for the 2025 Kerala local elections, the panchayat has 24 electoral wards. The State Election Commission's ward register also gives the electorate by sex for each ward.

Demographics

The 2011 census recorded a total panchayat population of 49,348, comprising 23,438 males and 25,910 females, in 11,713 households. Of the total, Unnikulam revenue village accounted for 27,634 people and Sivapuram revenue village for 21,714.

The smaller figure of 24,912 that is sometimes associated with “Unnikulam” refers to the census village rather than to the entire grama panchayat; the panchayat total includes Sivapuram as well.

Government and politics

Unnikulam is governed by a directly elected village council. The council has 24 members after the 2025 delimitation. The Kerala State Election Commission's 2025 winners register lists the following ward representatives.

K. K. Abdulla Master, the member for Kanthapuram ward, was selected as panchayat president after the 2025 election.

Education

School education in the panchayat is administered within the Thamarassery education district and Balussery education sub-district. The Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) school database identifies two government higher-secondary schools in the panchayat: Government Higher Secondary School, Sivapuram, which has classes 1–12, and Government Higher Secondary School, Poonoor, which has classes 8–12. The Sivapuram school was established in 1924 and its higher-secondary section began in 2004.

Government upper-primary schools include GUPS Unnikulam at Ekarool and GMUPS Poonoor. GUPS Unnikulam was established in 1912.

Government lower-primary schools listed by KITE include:

  • GLPS Kanthapuram

  • GMLPS Kanthapuram

  • GLPS Madathumpoyil

  • GLPS Palliyoth

  • GLPS Poonoor

  • GMLPS Poonoor

  • GMLPS Unnikulam

GMLPS Unnikulam, at Ekarool, was established in 1924.

KITE also records aided schools including AUPS Mangad, CCUPS Iyyad, MIUPS Iyyad, SMMAUPS Sivapuram, AMLPS Kanthapuram East, AMLPS Karumala, AMLPS Valliyoth and ALPS Sivapuram New.

Health care

The principal public modern-medicine facility is Family Health Centre Mangad. The Kerala Health Department lists it as a rural family health centre under Taluk Hospital Balussery.

The same official register lists eight health and wellness centres or subcentres serving the panchayat under FHC Mangad:

  • Iyyad

  • Kariyathankavu

  • Madathumpoyil

  • Unnikulam–Parappil

  • Mangad Main Centre

  • Ekarool–M. M. Paramba

  • Karumala

  • Kanthapuram

The panchayat also has an NHM AYUSH primary health centre for Ayurveda. A new Ayurveda hospital building in Karumala ward was inaugurated in February 2024.

Transport

State Highway 34, the Koyilandy–Thamarassery–Mukkam–Areekode–Edavanna corridor, is the main road through the panchayat. It links Ekarool and Poonoor with Balussery, Thamarassery and other regional centres. The highway's Koyilandy–Poonoor and Poonoor–Omassery sections were included in a Rebuild Kerala Initiative upgrading project.

Motor Vehicles Department route records show bus services connecting Ekarool and Poonoor with Elettil Vattoli, Balussery and surrounding places.

Public services and development

The grama panchayat office is at Ekarool. The local body also provides community-hall and digital local-government services. An Akshaya e-governance centre operates at Poonoor.

In an October 2025 review of the outgoing council's programme, the Kerala Information and Public Relations Department reported that 164 families had been moved out of the state's extreme-poverty category, including 38 families provided with houses and 40 receiving house repairs. It also reported that 286 beneficiaries had received houses through the LIFE Mission, and that 3,422 learners had completed training and evaluation under the Digi Kerala programme.

The same report stated that the panchayat's door-to-door waste collection coverage was 54.58 per cent, supported by 47 Haritha Karma Sena workers, and that 298 patients were receiving palliative care. It also listed an Ayurveda hospital, a BUDS rehabilitation centre, an additional building for the family health centre and renovation of the panchayat stadium among projects undertaken during the 2020–2025 council term.

Places and landmarks

The principal centres and public landmarks include:

  • Ekarool, the panchayat headquarters and a junction on State Highway 34

  • Poonoor town and the Poonoor River

  • Government Higher Secondary School, Poonoor

  • Government Higher Secondary School, Sivapuram, at Kariyathankavu

  • Family Health Centre Mangad

  • Unnikulam Grama Panchayat office and community hall at Ekarool

  • The public sports ground and panchayat stadium

Kerala Tourism's official route-and-location directory lists both Unnikulam and Poonoor as locations in Kozhikode district.

See also

References