CHENNAI/THANJAVUR: Farmers in the delta have expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s revised crop loan waiver scheme, saying it falls short of the ruling TVK’s election promise. They have announced that their protest in front of the Registrar of Cooperative Societies office in Chennai will go ahead as planned on June 22.
Sami Natarajan, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Farmers Association, said the latest announcement was an improvement over the earlier scheme but did not address their core demand.
“What we are demanding is a 100% waiver for all small and marginal farmers and a 50% waiver for other farmers, as promised in the TVK manifesto,” he said.
PS Masilamani, state general secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), said, “Both the TN Farmers Association and AIKS will go ahead with the protest on June 22,” he said.
SR Tamil Selvan of Nagapattinam termed the revised scheme another attempt to mislead farmers. Ayilai Sivasuriyan, Tiruchy district secretary of the Tamil Nadu Farmers Association, said the government’s approach towards addressing farmers’ debt burden itself is unfair.
In a statement, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami too renewed his demand for a complete waiver of crop loans. He alleged the government was merely creating an impression of reducing farmers’ hardships.
He criticised the decision to grant a full waiver only to small and marginal farmers who borrowed up to Rs 75,000, while limiting the benefit to a maximum of Rs 35,000 for those who borrowed more.
Calling the move unfair and unprecedented, Palaniswami argued there was “no big difference economically” as small and marginal farmers belonged to the same economic group. Echoing similar concerns, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss said the revised scheme would benefit only a limited number of farmers.