Salem farmers stage self flagellation protest over loan waiver

COIMBATORE: Farmers staged a protest at the Salem collectorate on Friday, kneeling and whipping themselves after walking out of the farmers' grievance redressal meeting in demand of a complete waiver of crop loans.

The grievance redressal meeting, chaired by Salem District Collector R Ilambagavath, was attended by representatives of various farmers' associations from across the district. Among them, around 50 farmers led by Tamil Nadu Farmers Association's Salem district president C Periyannan boycotted the proceedings, alleging that the state government had failed to honour its election promise of a comprehensive crop loan waiver.

The farmers expressed dissatisfaction with the government's recently announced crop loan relief measures, arguing that the phased waiver scheme did not adequately address the concerns of indebted cultivators. They urged the government to implement a complete waiver of agricultural loans as promised.

Following their walkout, the farmers assembled on the Collectorate premises, where they knelt on the ground and raised slogans in support of their demand. In a symbolic act of protest, some participants whipped themselves with lashes, drawing the attention of officials and police personnel deployed at the venue.

Speaking to the media, Periyannan said restricting the waiver to loans of up to Rs 75,000 was unacceptable and excluded a large number of farmers burdened with substantial debt. "Limiting the loan waiver amounts to discrimination against a large section of farmers who are struggling with higher levels of indebtedness," he said.