HR&CE trying to evict tenant farmers from temple lands: Ryots

TIRUCHY: Instead of distributing receipts for the lease amount, the HR&CE department plans to terminate the agreement with the tenant farmers, said PR Pandian, Coordinator of Coordination Committee of All Farmers Association on Tuesday. He warned that farmers would stage a series of protests, if the move was not withdrawn.

At a meeting of tenant farmers association chaired by Pandian at Thiruthuraipoondi it was resolved to organise a series of protests against the HR&CE department officials, whose attitude was causing them a series of problems.

Addressing the members of the association, Pandian said that the Prime Minister assured to offer a decent MSP for paddy and asked farmers to withdraw their protest. But, even after a year, nothing has happened. “There will be a meeting of farmers in Tiruchy to discuss the indefinite protest seeking an acceptable MSP. The meeting will also decide on the next course of action,” Pandian said.

Meanwhile, in Tamil Nadu, the HR&CE department plans to suspend the lease with the tenant farmers in the name of retrieving temple lands. “These farmers have been cultivating the temple lands for the past 50 years, but the temple administration has not been distributing receipts to the farmers. Instead, they mention them as defaulters to remove them from the land,” charged Pandian.