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Chennai, Oct 23 (IANS) Tamil Nadu BJP president Nainar Nagethran and NTK chief coordinator Seeman have urged the state government to provide expeditious compensation and relief to farmers in the Cauvery delta whose paddy fields have been inundated by torrential rains.
The leaders accused the ruling DMK of negligence and corruption and alleged that its failure to take timely action had led to severe damage to the Kuruvai crop.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Nagenthran said it was “heartbreaking” that more than 8,000 metric tonnes of harvested Kuruvai paddy had been wasted in the recent rains in the delta districts.
He sharply criticized the DMK government for not purchasing the harvested crop even after ten days, thereby wasting months of hard work of the farmers. “The government’s apathy has pushed delta farmers into despair. The DMK should immediately speed up paddy procurement and prevent further losses. More than one lakh acres of paddy ready for harvest has been submerged, and farmers are in tears,” Nageenthran said.
He demanded that Chief Minister MK Stalin, who calls himself a “resident of the Delta”, take immediate action by launching an emergency procurement drive and giving compensation of Rs 50,000 per acre to the affected farmers.
“Slogans alone will not help farmers – the chief minister must take immediate action,” he said.
Nam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) coordinator Seeman also issued a scathing statement against the state government, accusing it of “criminal indifference” towards the plight of farmers.
“The DMK government’s refusal to buy locally produced paddy while refusing to import rice from Andhra Pradesh exposes the hypocrisy of the so-called Dravidian model,” he said.
Seeman said that farmers of Tamil Nadu, who toil day and night in difficult conditions, have been struggling for a long time to get fair prices for their produce.
He alleged that the government has fixed the procurement price much lower than the cost of production, further affecting the livelihood of farmers.
“Corruption is rampant at direct procurement centres, where farmers are being illegally charged Rs 40 per paddy bundle. Why hasn’t the government taken action to end this robbery in broad daylight?” Seaman asked.
He urged the DMK to immediately remove irregularities at procurement centres, ensure transparent payments and provide appropriate compensation to Samba farmers whose crops have been destroyed in the floods.
Both Nagenthran and Seeman warned that government apathy could lead to an agricultural crisis in the fertile delta region of Tamil Nadu if immediate corrective measures were not taken.
–IANS
AL/DPB