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TIRUCHY: Police detained hundreds of farmers who tried to resume their indefinite protest demanding a crop loan waiver at various locations in Tiruchy on Thursday. Later, farmer leaders announced the temporary withdrawal of the protest following talks with ministers in Chennai.
“The minister allocated an additional fund of Rs 2,288 crore for crop loan waiver, and with this fund, a total of Rs 8,500 crore has so far been allocated for the crop loan waiver. Despite fulfilling only 50 per cent of our demands, we have decided to withdraw the protest temporarily, citing the ministers' explanation about the poor financial conditions, but still, we will discuss with our members and decide on the next course of action,” he said.
Earlier, farmers from various associations proceeded towards Samayapuram on Thursday. However, police stopped and detained them at several locations along the way as a precautionary measure. The farmers resisted, triggering a scuffle with the police. They were later forcibly taken away in police vehicles and lodged at various locations.
Meanwhile, farmer leaders, including Easan Murugesan, PR Pandian, P Ayyakannu, PS Masilamani and Sami Natarajan, held talks with a ministerial team led by N Anand. The meeting lasted several hours.
After the meeting, Easan Murugesan said the ministers expressed concern for farmers and a willingness to resolve the issue, but cited a fund crunch and urged them to withdraw the protest.
Around 50 farmers’ associations launched an indefinite protest at Samayapuram on September 15, demanding a crop loan waiver as promised during the election campaign. After a series of talks, ministers R Vinoth (Agriculture), V Gandhiraj (Cooperation) and S Ramesh (HR&CE) sought 20 days to resolve the issue; the farmers then withdrew their protest on September 19.
However, with no announcement on the crop loan waiver even after the deadline, the farmer leaders announced that they would resume the protest at the same venue from October 22.