TIRUCHY: Various farmers' associations condemned the arrest of poultry farmers who had protested for an increase in wages and demanded that the government run the poultry units.

According to PS Masilamani, General Secretary Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam affiliated to CPI, the poultry farmers demanded an increase in the water price of Rs 20 per kg, and the officials who held talks with the farmers promised to fulfil their demands.

Since the government didn’t do so, the farmers staged a hunger strike but were arrested. Meanwhile, Swamimalai Sundara Vimalnathan, Secretary, Tamil Nadu Cauvery Farmers Protection Association, urged the state government to run the poultry farms so that the farmers might not worry about the wages, as they might be fixed by the government.

“Since the cattle-rearing farmers are supported by Aavin through milk societies, a similar functioning would also be possible for poultry farmers,” Vimalnathan said in a statement.