While the commencement of disbursement of insurance compensation for the samba crop cultivated and insured in the year 2020-21 has brought some cheer to the Delta farmers, they expect the belated compensation to be given with interest.
On Monday, Chief Minister M. K. Stalin handed over the crop insurance compensation orders to 10 farmers at Chennai to mark the commencement of the disbursement of compensation for the loss of samba crop suffered by the farmers during the last rabi season.
While welcoming the efforts taken by the Tamil Nadu government to ensure that farmers who have insured their samba crop last season and subsequently got the same affected in the heavy rains that lashed the State during December 2020 and January 2021 period, get the insurance compensation without fail in spite of the ‘severe’ financial constraints the administration was facing, Delta farmers feel that mere disbursement of compensation would not be sufficient to bale them out of the present debt they were in.
Stating that they had taken up ‘kuruvai’ crop cultivation this season without crop insurance backup facility, they pleaded that the disbursement of insurance compensation for the last samba crop which had been delayed by more than a quarter be paid to them with interest. Then only the financial burden being faced by them could be eased to some extent, they added.
Already, the Tamil Nadu Thanjavur District Cauvery Farmers’ Protection Association had filed a PIL at the Madras High Court, Madurai Bench seeking a direction to the crop insurance companies and the governments to disburse the insurance compensation for the samba crop insured by the farmers in Tamil Nadu last season with interest since the compensation was not released and disbursed by May-June 2021.
