DHARMAPURI: For lakhs of farmers living in Tamil Nadu’s hinterland, cattle, goat, and sheep are the beasts of burden that help them pull through the vagaries of life. For these farmers, livestock are their investment, income, and insurance. During festivals, emergencies, or while admitting their wards to schools or colleges, rural households trade their livestock for cash at shandies to make ends meet. But the cash restrictions imposed by the Election Commission of India as part of the Model Code of Conduct have now pushed them to the brink.
R Murugan, a trader from Gopinamthampatti in Dharmapuri, told TNIE, “In Dharmapuri, cattle rearing is one of the key occupations. The district has over 3.75 lakh cattle and more than 5.25 lakh sheep, goat and other milch animals. Cattle trade happens periodically in open markets in Nallampalli, Bommidi, Gopinathampatti and Papparapatti and other areas. Every week, on Wednesdays, hundreds of people from Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Salem, and even from Karnataka visit the market to purchase cows and other animals. While normally, the volume of trade crosses Rs 55 lakh, this week it was only Rs 43 lakh, a drop of almost 25%.”
Cash would be returned if cause is genuine: Officials
“Because of fear of EC flying squads, buyers and traders are limiting their sale and purchase to maximum extent possible. They wait for days to get back their hard-earned money. Usually a goat is sold for Rs 6,500 to Rs 9,500 and a good cattle could fetch more than Rs 45,000. But since the maximum cash allowed is only Rs 50,000, many farmers and traders are reluctant to carry cash with them. A few traders have been caught in the past by these EC teams,”M Selvraj, another farmer, said.
Meanwhile, a few Erode farmers who were not aware of poll code rules, landed in trouble on Thursday. Three farmers who had over Rs 1.26 lakh cash with them after concluding a cattle trade had to hand over the cash to an EC team as they had no papers to prove the trade.
Enraged over the confiscation of cash, over a dozen farmers arrived at Erode collectorate and demanded an explanation from officials. Farmers said, In Krishnagiri, farmers said lack of enough buyers in Pochampalli cattle market is crippling their lives. NS Sivaguru, a farmer, said, “About Rs 1 crore worth of cattle trade happens in Pochampalli market every week. But this week, there were no buyers. Usually, buyers from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh arrive at the market. There was over 75% drop in number of buyers.”
Poll officials told TNIE, “The ECI had banned carrying more than Rs 50,000 in cash. If the cash is being carried for genuine reasons, it would be returned after verification.”