Cauvery-Gundaru linking project to take off by January, says CM

He said that the district, which has the most number of farmers, has been awaiting implementation of the Cauvery-Gundaru linking project, which was also a dream of the late chief minister J Jayalalithaa. The dream would come true and the district would turn fertile soon, he added.

In order to materialise the project, the land acquisition has been underway and the government has decided to start the work by January 2021. “I will once again come to lay the foundation for the project,” Palaniswami said.

When he was leaving Viralimalai, farmers along with their bulls gathered along the Kavinadu canal to thank the Chief Minister for his announcement of Cauvery-Gundaru project and the Chief Minister inspected the Kudimaramathu works that are being undertaken there.

When the Chief Minister was proceeding to Kavinadu canal in a bullock cart, there was a heavy rush all along the way and the bulls that pulled the cart with CM were shocked and were about to run amok. However, the officials and the security personnel had managed to control them and safely made Palaniswami to climb down the cart.

The Chief Minister also inaugurated the ITC Ltd owned Aashirvaad atta manufacturing unit at Viralimalai. The unit which has been established in an area of 55 acres and the atta manufacturing unit has been established at a cost of Rs 100 crore. The CM assured that the factory would provide employment to at least 2,200 persons in and around Viralimalai and said that it was just one example of the government’s initiation in inviting the investments for the benefit of the people. He charged Opposition Leader and DMK president MK Stalin with spreading false propaganda against the government.

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami who interacted with the representatives of various farmers’ associations in Pudukkottai on Thursday, reiterated that the Centre’s farm laws will support the farmers from facing fall in the prices of crops due to bountiful harvest. Referring that 32 lakh MT paddy has been procured this year, the Chief Minister said that the farm bills brought by the Centre directs the traders to procure more than the prescribed quantity. “This would control the fall in prices due to bumper harvest and this would certainly help the farmers,” he said. He pointed out that the market committee in Tamil Nadu has been collecting only 1 per cent cess for the products that the farmers sell through the regulatory market or any market affiliated to the Cooperative Society. However, in Punjab, a farmer cannot sell directly in the market, but he has to depend on an agent who would collect at least 2.5 per cent for himself and the market committee has been collecting 3 per cent cess while the local body has been collecting around 3.5 per cent cess. “But the farm bills restricted the cess collection within the limit and obviously the other collections are stopped which would in turn benefit only the farmers,” Palaniswami explained. He insisted that the Centre’s farm bill would bring only good to the farmers and so the state government has supported this. “But a few organisations and the political parties are fighting against this just for some political gain,” he charged.