Promises to Vellore missing in budget, farmers disappointed

TN Farmers association Ranipet district president K Raja said, “The demands of farmers of north TN being ignored is painful as there is nothing in the budget about the South Pennar-Palar link which was promised a year back. There is also no word about the assurance given two years back of building check dams across the Palar to impoundrain water.”

Elaborating on the Pennar-Palar link plan, Raja said, “The plan is not new and it dates back to the British days as the latter proposed the development of a 57 kilometre canal to connect both rivers to increase the agricultural operations in northern districts as Palar would have water for a minimum of three months annually.”

Stating that the promise made to remove seemai karuvelam plants was also ignored Raja said, “The promise made a couple of years back to remove seemai karuvelam plants (Prosopis Juliflora) from all irrigation tanks still remains on paper. The delay continues despite knowing that the invasive thorny tree plant will affect waterbodies.”

A farmers’ association representative seeking anonymity said, at a time when agricultural lands in the region is getting affected due to the effluents of tanneries, a scheme to ensure improved cultivation through advanced practices is a necessity. The government does not seem to understand the repercussion as otherwise there is every chance of the area becoming totally devoid of agriculture, he added.

Tamilaga Vivasayigal Sangam Tirupattur district secretary R Mullai alleged that the budget totally missed out on the schemes for the northern districts while favouring the western and delta districts.

Expressing his views on the budget, Tamilaga Vivasayigal Sangam youth wing general secretary R Subash said that the association strongly condemned the failure of the government to allocate funds for the schemes and insulted the farmers by allocating only Rs 100 per tonne for cane as state support price in addition to the central government’s Fair and RemunerativePrice (FRP).