AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Sunday, March 31, 2024 accused the ruling DMK of neglecting farmers and not fulfilling many of its assurances for the farm sector in the last three years.
Addressing a meeting of farmers in Chidambaram, Mr. Palaniswami said the government had not fulfilled its assurances of procuring sugar cane at ₹4,000 a tonne and paddy at ₹2,500 a quintal. The government had also failed to provide compensation to farmers under the crop insurance scheme.
The Budget also did not have anything for farmers who suffered crop losses. Had the government ensured coverage of farmers under the crop insurance scheme, the farmers would have got compensation of ₹84,000 per hectare, he said.
Mr. Palaniswami said the AIADMK government had provided a compensation of ₹1.04 lakh per hectare for crop damage, whereas the present Government headed by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin announced a compensation of ₹13,500 per hectare for the affected kuruvai paddy crop in the delta region.
The cooperative sugar mill, located in the Assembly constituency of Agriculture Minister M.R.K. Panneerselvam, had not been put to proper use. While around 3 lakh tonnes of sugarcane should have been crushed, only 80,000 tonnes of sugarcane was crushed so far. As a result, cane farmers were selling their produce to private mills, he said.
“I am a farmer and I know the pains and sufferings of farmers. People should support us in the Lok Sabha elections to ensure that the rights of Tamil Nadu farmers were protected. We will pressure the Centre to respond to the issues of farmers that are of importance,” he said.
