Poor response for DMK’s IT wing’s efforts to get input

VELLORE: Efforts of the DMK’s IT wing to get inputs from farmers and farmers’ organisations through email, app, ordinary mail and WhatsApp failed to evoke any response from the farming community, who claim it to be an eyewash, sources revealed.

The ruling party’s IT wing put out on social media requests for the farming community and the public to provide suggestions for the agriculture budget for 2023-2024. The message stated that officials could be reached with suggestions through the email tnfarmbudget@gmail.com, through the Uzhavan App and through WhatsApp via the number 93634 40360 and by post to the Agriculture Commissioner, Secretariat, Fort St. George, Chennai – 600 009.

When asked about this, TN Vivasayigal Sangam functionaries pooh poohed the idea of providing suggestions, “When all of us know that it will only be an eyewash with none of our suggestions even seeing the light of the day,” said the Sangam’s state youth wing secretary R Subash.

Elaborating he said, “the fact that the DMK government is not serious about this exercise can be found from the way Agriculture Minister MRK Paneerselvam interacted with us through video conferencing, while in the previous year, he called all of us to Chennai and personally interacted with us. However, nothing transpired after these meetings and none of our demands were met.”

Reiterating this, Sangam state president T Venugopal said, “We sought Rs 2,500 for a quintal of paddy, but today get only Rs 2,160 which is also from the Centre, while the state government provides only a mere Rs 100. Similarly, farmers also demanded a price of Rs 3,500 per tonne for sugar cane which also failed to materialise as now we get only around Rs 2,950 per tonne.”

Joining in Sangam state general secretary S Udayakumar added, “we have been demanding implementation of the MS Swaminathan report, which neither the state nor the Centre have done so far. We also sought production subsidy for farm crops as was provided in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana, which too fell on deaf ears. When this is the case, why should farmer waste time to approach the government through email or app when we know that the exercise is an eyewash and that nothing will get done.”