KOCHI: Kerala Congress (Secular) leader P C George announced his decision to hold a one-day fast at the Rubber Board headquarters in Kottyam on December 28, in protest against the anti-farmer policies of the State Government and the Centre.
“All the office-bearers of the party will join me in the strike, which is scheduled to begin at 8.00 am,” said George after inaugurating the district convention of the party in Thrissur on Sunday.
“The State Government has not done anything for the welfare of the farmers even after the price of latex fell from Rs 240 to Rs 100. The Rs 80-crore solatium announced by the government for distribution among the farmers is still pending. Currently, around 12 lakh farmers and eight lakh farm workers are in distress due to the crisis facing the sector. The people expect a response from Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and K M Mani on the issue,” he said, and sought the immediate intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to retain the Rubber Board headquarters in Kottayam.George pointed out that the chairmanship of the Rubber Board has been vacant for the past two years, and that the 24-member Board had not been reconstituted. He demanded that the three defunct zonal offices be reinstated, and subsidy arrears of the past two years be distributed among farmers without delay.
According to him, his party’s stance is that both the Centre and the State Government should intervene in the matter so as to maintain the price of rubber at not less than Rs 200/kg.
District president Jose Pattikkaad presided over the function. Party functionaries M T Joseph, S Bhaskara Pillai, Thomas Kannanthara, Maleth Prathapachandran, Shaijo Hassan, Sebastian Joseph also spoke.