The AIADMK on Wednesday moved a breach of privilege motion against Agriculture Minister Veerapandi S. Arumugam, accusing him of providing wrong information to the House on sugarcane price given to farmers when it was in power.
Mr. Arumugam stood by his statement in the House, stressing that the AIADMK government, between 2001 and 2005, had given only the statutory minimum price (SMP) determined by the Centre.
No state advised price (SAP) was fixed.
“There is no privilege because all I said was that the AIADMK government never gave a single paisa to sugarcane farmers over and above the price fixed by the Centre.”
Speaker R. Avudaiappan said he would give a ruling after going through the details.
Raising the issue during zero hour, AIADMK whip K.A. Sengottaiyan said there was no truth in the Minister's claim that the AIADMK government had given a maximum of Rs.745 per tonne of sugarcane.
He also submitted documents to support his argument that farmers from various parts of the State had received more than Rs.1000 per tonne from co-operative sugar mills during the AIADMK rule.