A joint meeting of various Cauvery farmers’ associations here has urged all political parties in Tamil Nadu to press the Prime Minister to gazette the final award of the Cauvery Waters Dispute Tribunal.
These associations have pledged their co-operation to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in all her efforts to get it gazetted in spite of the strong opposition from Karnataka.
In an appeal to former Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M. Karunanidhi, they wanted him to urge the Prime Minister to gazette the Award as it was during his tenure as Chief Minister that the Tribunal itself was constituted.
Besides, they appealed to all political parties to support them in case they are forced to resort to any agitation to get their just demands fulfilled.
This was the major resolution passed at the meeting organised under the banner of the Cauvery Delta Farmers’ Welfare Association which was the first to move the Apex Court in 1983.
The farmers also decided to form a delegation and meet the Prime Minister if the Chief Minister wanted them to do so.
While thanking the Chief Minister for her various initiatives to help the farmers during a serious distress situation, they wanted her to defer the last date for registering for the National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) to December 31 instead of December 15.
It also pleaded that even if a single farmer was to be affected, he should be able to get full insurance.
Besides, there should not be any attempt to reduce the insurance amount by mentioning “percentage of loss” by issuing an annavari certificate.