TIRUCHY: Farmers have expressed hope that Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief and CM-designate C Joseph Vijay will fulfil his poll promise of full waiver of cooperative loans, and MSP hike as soon as assuming office.
A section of farmers stressed that the loan waiver should not be limited to farmers holding less than five acres, as promised in the manifesto, but extended to all, arguing that all farmers incur similar input costs.
Irrespective of whether farmers are small or large, both have to borrow money to carry out farming, as the remunerative price for their produce is not adequate to repay their loans, said Swamimalai S Vimalnathan, secretary of the Tamil Nadu Cauvery Farmers Protection Association. “So, the new government should waive cooperative crop loans for all farmers and hike MSP. Irrespective of the size of landholding, farmers incur the same expenses and their produce is also sold at the same price. There should be no discrimination in waiving loans,” he added.
Considering the financial situation, funds for MSP hike can be allocated later, but Vijay should first sign the file immediately after assuming office as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu to enhance MSP, he added.
PS Masilamani, state general secretary of the Tamil Nadu farmers association, expressed concern if Vijay would fulfil all his poll promises. “Only because of the financial crunch, previous governments were hesitant about loan waivers. It is a big question whether the new government will waive cooperative crop loans, as it requires huge funds. So, it should at least announce MSP hike first,” he added.
Unlike the attitude shown towards the DMK government, the Union government should release the state’s due share of funds so that Vijay can fulfil his promises to the farming community, considering that more than 60% of the state’s population is engaged in agriculture, said P.R. Pandian, president of the Coordination Committee of All Farmers Associations of Tamil Nadu. “Everything is possible if the government is corruption-free,” he added.
S Raghavan, a farmer from Karur, said the new CM should take steps to include tenant farmers under the PM-Kisan cash assistance scheme.