BJP seeks Rs 50,000 per acre relief for rain-hit Delta farmers

Chennai: BJP state unit president Nainar Nagenthran on Wednesday urged the State government to provide a compensation of Rs 50,000 per acre to farmers whose paddy crops were submerged in water due to heavy rain in the Cauvery Delta districts and to immediately procure the harvested paddy that had been left damaged in the open.

In a statement, he cited reports that 8,000 metric tonnes of harvested paddy bags are damaged, soaked and spoiled by rain. He said it was a deeply distressing report. “It is painful that even ten days after the harvest, the ruling DMK government has failed to procure the paddy, thereby disregarding the hard work of farmers who toiled for months,” he said.

Nagenthran alleged that the government’s “negligent attitude” had resulted not only in damage to the harvested paddy but also in the submergence of more than one lakh acres of standing paddy crop, leaving farmers in distress.

He said the BJP had repeatedly urged the government to expedite paddy procurement to safeguard farmers' livelihoods. “The Chief Minister, who claims to be a son of the Delta, must act on a war footing to procure the harvested paddy immediately and provide compensation of Rs 50,000 per acre to farmers affected by the rain,” he added.