The block contains 64 village Panchayats, including 107 'revenue villages'. Most of these 'revenue villages' consist of one main village plus one or two attached hamlets of Dalits. The Vanur Block contains 98 public schools, but has no colleges, universities, or schools for vocational training. The block contains three public health centres and 29 health subcentres. The majority of people in the Vanur Block are engaged in agriculture, as small landholders and labourers.
Major crops are cashew, casuarina, sugar cane, rice, flowers, and cattle.
Fishing, fish vending, shrimp farming, salt and lime production are the prevalent employment along the coast. Recently, a significant number of young people have been moving to urban centres, industries, and a large university, for employment, primarily in construction trades. The traditional social structure of the Vanur Block villages is based on male clan leaders. The movement of people to the cities and the introduction of elected leaders on the Panchayat system have undermined this structure. The Government of India's 'Panchayati Raj' Act grants more power to the local governing bodies, and stipulates the inclusion of women and other previously excluded sections of society, such as Dalits.