TIRUCHY: Claiming that the kuruvai special package announced by the State government has failed to support the small farmers, a section of ryots from Thanjavur staged a protest at the Collectorate on Monday demanding a package that aids all.

The farmers led by the Confederation of Tamil Nadu Farmers Associations State Vice President Kakkarai R Sukumaran who converged at the main entrance of the Thanjavur Collectorate raised slogans against the disparity in the kuruvai special package claiming that it helps only the farmers who are involved in machine cultivation and not the small-time farmers.

“The special package fund of Rs 4,000 per acre has been distributed to the farmers who cultivate their lands with the help of machines but those who are involved in manual cultivation are not included in the list of beneficiaries,” Sukumaran said. He also said that there is no possibility of utilisation of machines since most of the cultivation depended on groundwater rather than the river water owing to poor storage in the Mettur.

The protesting farmers also said that there was no water for samba cultivation and so they lost samba yield. However, they have not yet distributed the insurance claims.

“Once the insurance claims are received, we could concentrate on the other cultivation process. The government must inform about the release of claims,” Sukumaran said.

While they were raising slogans, a group of farmers started lying on the floor condemning the irregular distribution of the kuruvai special package.

Police requested them to approach the DRO Thiagarajan. Subsequently, they submitted a petition with the DRO assuring to forward it to the concerned department.