TIRUCHY: While the Delta farmers have lauded the announcement of the kuruvai special package, they claimed that it lacks some clarity, as the package would help only the farmers involved in mechanised farming with groundwater.
The farmers who undertake the conventional method of cultivation and those farmers who depend on river irrigation will be ignored. Hence, the farmer appealed to the government to ensure the package supports all the farmers and provides proper compensation to those who could not go ahead with the cultivation due to water shortage.
According to official sources, the State government had announced a Kuruvai Special Package of Rs 134.83 crore, including a fund of Rs 77.50 crore for the Delta region, which comprised Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Mayiladuthurai and Nagapattinam and parts of Tiruchy, Ariyalur and Pudukkottai districts, where paddy is cultivated in an area of 20.65 lakh acre including 5.31 lakh acres of kuruvai.
Due to the poor storage level in the Mettur dam, the actual kuruvai cultivation has shrunk to 3.5 lakh acres this time. Only farmers cultivating kuruvai with the support of groundwater could go ahead with cultivation.
“More than 70 per cent of farmers from the Delta region are dependent on the Cauvery for irrigation, and these farmers have quit cultivating kuruvai due to the parched Cauvery. The kuruvai special package has come forward to help the farmers who use groundwater for irrigation and cultivate with a mechanised farming method. Some farmers use groundwater but undergo the conventional method of manual farming, and they would be left out from the kuruvai special package benefits,” said PS Masilamani, General Secretary, Tamilaga Vivasayigal Sangam affiliated to CPI.
He also stated that 70 per cent of farmers who depend on river irrigation in the Delta region have lost their livelihood and the government should come forward to support them with proper compensation, Masilamani said.
While Swamimalai Sundara Vimalnathan, Secretary, Tamil Nadu Cauvery Farmers Protection Association, said that the Kuruvai special package has no mention of the farmers dependent on water irrigation. “The government should announce the alternate arrangement to these farmers who could not go ahead with Kuruvai cultivation,” Vimalnathan said.
He also pointed out that the government, which encouraged groundwater irrigation with mechanised farming, has to ensure an uninterrupted power supply and proper subsidy for fuel.
While NV Kannan, president, Tamilaga Vivasayigal Sangam, Thanjavur, said that the kruvuai special package announcement is a delayed one, and the government failed to mention the benefits per acre in the package and the number of beneficiaries from the region. “The announcement lacks clarity, and so the officials should clarify it to the farmers,” Kannan said.
Meanwhile, the farmers from Tiruvarur staged a series of protests, including road blockades, demanding the crop loan waiver. They claimed that the kuruvai special package would never help the farmers, as most of them had not undertaken the cultivation due to water shortage, and so the loan waiver can only be a real help for them.