Delta farmers see no lifeline

Though the allocation of Rs 7,000 crore for the crop loan through Cooperative banks is more than the previous year’s allotment of Rs 6,000 crore, the expenditure for the crop loan increased to 20 per cent than the interim and there should have been a 20 per cent increase in the allocation, said Swamimalai Sundara Vimalnathan, Secretary Cauvery farmers protection association. However, he welcomed the amount increased to Rs 20,000 from Rs 10,000 under social security scheme. 

Meanwhile, the farmers are dejected as there was no announcement about the free power supply. They said that no new connection was given to the farmers under the free power scheme for the past nine years. 

While a fund of Rs 127 crore allotted to settle arrears for the sugarcane farmers, the farmers of the region had pointed out that the fund of Rs 900 crore announced by the former Chief Minister J Jayalalaithaa is still pending. 

Charging that the state budget has mention on the fruitful schemes to prevent suicides of the farmers, the delta farmers on whole fumed that the long pending demand of waiver of loans availed from the nationalised banks has not been announced in the budget.