Settle cane farmers’ arrears immediately, Stalin tells State

Noting that private and cooperative sugar mills owed Rs 1,650 crore and Rs 200 crore arrears respectively to the farmers of various districts, Stalin accused the state government of pushing the cane farmers in the state in to deep distress. Referring to the postponement of a scheduled negotiation promised by the state government, Stalin said the government has belied the hopes of the sugarcane growers, who had deferred an earlier agitation trusting an assurance made by the government. Stating that the state government was as responsible to settle arrears of cooperative mills as it is to make private mills pay the dues to farmers, the DMK treasurer urged the ruling AIADMK to immediately hold talks with the private sugar mills and settle the dues of cooperative sugar mills. 

Asserting that the DMK had created a separate department to protect cane farmers back in 1974, the Leader of Opposition said that it was unfortunate that the department has turned dysfunctional in the AIADMK regime without being able to settle cane farmer’s dues.  He also asked the ruling AIADMK to not cite the ensuing poll on Nov 19 as an excuse and immediately hold talks with private mills to ensure settlement of farmer’s dues at the earliest. It may be recalled that a few days before Deepavali cane growers staged a protest by cooking on the road highlighting their demand for payment of arrears. The protestors appealed to the government to help them get the arrears at least before Deepavali to meet the festival expenses. They also threatened to intensify their stir through a series of agitations like black flag protests in their respective areas if the payment of arrears was delayed anymore.