Tamil Nadu Farmers Association (TNFA) and Tamil Nadu Agricultural Labourers Association (TNALA) on Monday demanded the district administration to declare Madurai drought-hit and provide adequate compensation to the farmers and labourers.
Highlighting that the rainfall in the district this year was the lowest in more than a decade, members of the associations said that farming this year was consequently a near-total failure. Jeyakodi, district secretary of TNFA, said that the district administration should do everything in its capacity to make the State government declare Madurai drought-hit. K. Kalidas, State executive committee member of Communist Party of India, who participated in the protest, demanded that the government provide Rs. 30,000 per acre as compensation for the farmers. Stating that agricultural labourers were generally the worst-affected but neglected, he added that the labourers should be provided Rs. 25,000 per acre as compensation.
K. Kandasamy from CPI, who also participated in the protest, said that the daily wage under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme should be increased to Rs. 400 per day to compensate the loss in employment in agriculture.
Earlier, a tussle broke out between the police and the association members when the police stopped them from marching towards the Collectorate from Tiruvalluvar statue to submit a petition to the Collector. In the melee, some of the members were roughed up by the police. The functionaries alleged high-handed behaviour by the police personnel when there was no provocation from their end.
