TIRUCHY: Whether planting paddy in a field or arriving at a felicitation event on a bullock cart in the delta region on Saturday, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has struck a chord with the farming community.
Duraiyappa, a farm labourer who was present at the felicitation event organised by farmers in Tiruvarur, said, “I have seen chief ministers coming in expensive cars and even chariots to events, but this is the first time I have even seen a chief minister coming on a bullock cart.”
Palaniswami’s journey to the delta region after declaring it a Special Protected Agricultural Zone would undoubtedly be etched in his memory forever.
Roads in the delta region are narrow and zigzag due to the presence of farmlands. The chief minister’s convoy was crisscrossing the thoroughfares in Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur districts on Saturday.
As the convoy was approaching Needamangalam town, Palaniswami from his car saw a group of farmworkers engaged in summer crop paddy transplantation work.
He stopped his car and waded through muddy water in the field to interact with the workers.
The workers were awestruck and rendered speechless. Palaniswami listened to the grievances of these workers and directed local officials to address the problems.
Palaniswami received a grand welcome from Needamangalam farmers.
He told them as he was a farmer himself, he was well aware of their pains and sufferings and resolved to set things right.
In the evening, a massive gathering of men and women awaited him at a felicitation programme in Tiruvarur to thank him for declaring the delta a protected zone.
Speaking to TNIE, P Ravindran, a farmer who represented Cuddalore district at the event, said, “Almost all major demands of the farmers, some going back decades, were settled by the present government. We are now getting Cauvery water without any problem. The earlier announcement of 45 villages in Cuddalore and Nagapattinam districts being declared petrochemical investment zones was withdrawn by the present government and moreover, the region has turned into a protected agricultural zone. Above all, we are happy a chief minister is identifying himself as a farmer.”
A Kalaiyarasan, an Economics scholar at MIDS, said “These kinds of gestures by the chief minister as a farmer may give a sense of confidence to the alienated farming community. However, the well-being of the farmers would be tested only on how much these gestures translate into substantial policy interventions.”
On this front, too, farmer leaders are praising the Chief Minister for settling long-pending major demands of the farming community through policy interventions.
“Palaniswami’s government’s interventions like Kudimaramathu works to renovate water bodies and allowing farmers to take alluvial soil from water bodies to apply on their lands to improve fertility have gone down well with farmers,” they said.
Tirupur medical college to cost Rs 337 crores
Tirupur: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami will be laying the foundation stone for Tirupur Medical College on March 15, said Minister for Animal Husbandry Udumalai K Radhakrishnan. Speaking to media persons at the groundbreaking ceremony, he said, “The Tirupur Medical College Hospital will be constructed at a cost of Rs336.96 crore.
"The 32,066 sq ft hospital building will be constructed at nearly Rs125.74 crore and the medical college buildings will be constructed at Rs107.21 crore. The 27,568-sq ft residential facility will constructed at Rs104 crore. A total of 21 buildings will be developed on the hospital premises.”
The minister said the amount of land necessary to build a medical college would be around 55 acres. The ground breaking ceremony was attended by Tirupur District Collector Vijayakarthikeyan.
CM announces solatium to kin of 15
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Sunday announced Rs 3 lakh from the Chief Minister’s relief fund to each of the families of 15 persons who died of electric shock or due to snakebite in separate incidents across the State. He conveyed his deepest condolences to the victims’ families