EPS demands TN govt to give crop damages to farmers

CHENNAI: Leader of opposition and former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Sunday demanded the DMK government to engage the government machinery in full swing to access the crop damages in the northeast monsoon to extend relief measures at the earliest. Meanwhile, he appealed the TN government to extend the last date for the crop insurance scheme till the end of this month and urged the state government to pay the premium for the farmers this year.

EPS, in a statement, noted that the government had announced November 15 as last day for availing crop insurance. It should extend the last date for the same till end of this month. It should launch a campaign by engaging officials of the agriculture department and insurance firms to reach out to the farmers to educate and encourage farmers to take crop insurance for their field.

He demanded the TN government to conduct a field inspection to access the crop damages in the northeast monsoon and release compensation of Rs 30,000 per acre of damaged crops.

Nearly 1.5 lakh acres of paddy field submerged in the heavy rain lashed several districts in the state. Around 1 lakh acres of paddy crops damaged in several districts in the delta region such as Mayiladuthurai, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, and Thiruvarur. In Mayiladuthurai alone, paddy crops in around 80,000 acres were damaged in the rains, said EPS

Apart from this, banana, groundnut and several other vegetables crops have also damaged badly due to the rains. Hence, the government should act swiftly to access the crop damages and help the farmers to get suitable compensations at the earliest, he further said.

He criticised the state government that it failed to conduct proper assessment of crop damage last year. It denied compensation to a large section of farmers, whose crops were damaged in the rains during last season. Nearly 80% of the affected farmers had not received the compensation due to poor assessment carried out by the government.

He also slammed that the present government for giving compensation of just Rs 250 per acre to several farmers, as against Rs. 300 per acre premium for the crop insurance scheme.