COIMBATORE: State committee meeting of Tamil Nadu Vivasayikal Sangam held at Sulur on Saturday passed various resolutions, including urging the state government to distribute compensation of Rs 35,000 per acre for the loss of Kuruvai crops in the delta region to farmers as Rs 5,400 per acre is not enough for them.
P Shanmugam, state president of the association, said, “Despite water being released from Mettur dam on June 12, a total of two lakhs acres of Kuruvai crops in the delta region have been destroyed as Karnataka failed to release water to Tamil Nadu as per the Supreme Court order as well as due to lack of rain in the monsoon. Due to the loss, we were expecting a fair compensation.”
“However, the Tamil Nadu government has stated that only 40,000 acres were destroyed and it would be able to give compensation of Rs 5,400 per acre, which is not enough,” he added. He said that the state government should carry out a survey again as the crops were not covered under the insurance policy. The association also urged the central government to release MGNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) funds to hand over wages to the poor people.
Sami Natarajan, general secretary of the association, said, “The central government should hand over a total of Rs 2,700 crore that would be distributed as wages for the workers across the state, which has been pending for the past four months. We also condemn the central government as even after Chief Minister MK Stalin wrote a letter and sought the Centre’s help to release the funds, it kept on delaying. “It will be helpful for the workers to celebrate Deepavali with their family if the central government distribute it before Deepavali,” he added.