MLAs chill out with ‘Neera’ in Assembly

“We are happy to be PRO for Neera,” said Electricity Minister P Thangamani pointing to the demand of farmers that they be allowed to extract the immature inflorescence of coconut tree to produce the drink. He was responding to a remark of DMK member P Sekar Babu in a lighter vein whether Deputy Speaker Pollachi V Jayaraman was acting like a Public Relations Officer for the drink.    

Earlier, Speaker P Dhanapal and Jayaraman told the legislators that ‘neera’ was also available in the House canteen and asked all to taste it. In response, Sekar Babu said he tasted it and it was good.    Later, legislators, officials and journalists were also provided chilled ‘neera’ at the House canteen.

According to the Coconut Development Board website, ‘neera’ is the “vascular sap collected from immature unopened coconut inflorescence.”  

It is a sugar containing juice, a delicious health drink and a rich source of sugar, minerals and vitamins. Recently, the state government had introduced a Bill in Assembly to amend the Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act,1937, in order to facilitate extraction and processing of ‘neera’ from coconut trees and to issue licences for its marketing and export.