Minister for Cooperation G. Sudhakaran has written to Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan suggesting that a compensation of Rs.15,000 per acre be provided to farmers of Kuttanad who suffered loss of crops in the recent floods.
He also urged the Chief Minister that they should be given seeds and fertilisers free of charge.
Mr. Sudhakaran said the compensation of Rs.10,000 per acre proposed by the Minister for Agriculture was not in proportion to the loss suffered by the farmers. A farmer could have earned up to Rs.40,000 from an acre of paddy, as the yield could touch 32 quintals.
The Cabinet had entrusted the Chief Minister to finalise the rate of compensation to the farmers at its meeting on November 30. In the capacity of being a Minister from the district, Mr. Sudhakaran had earlier toured the ‘padasekharams' in Kuttanad and had sent letters to the Chief Minister and the Agriculture Minister calling for urgent relief.
