: The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) will organise a protest against State government for failing to stop the farmer suicides in the State on January 10. In a statement, PMK founder Dr. Ramadoss said that not a single day passes without farmers committing suicide in the Cauvery delta region. “In the last few weeks, around 84 farmers have committed suicide. On Monday alone, 10 people have committed suicide,” said Dr. Ramadoss.
Announcing that he will protest along with PMK youth wing leader Anbumani Ramadoss, he demanded that Tamil Nadu be declared a drought-hit State. Stating that Dravidian parties have yet to find a lasting solution to the Cauvery issue, he said lack of agrarian reforms are the reason why farmers are killing themselves. “If the tribunal judgement had been implemented by State and Central governments and samba cultivation had been ensured, so many farmers wouldn’t have died. While the Karnataka government was supported by the Centre, the State didn’t put enough pressure on the Centre,” he said.
Meanwhile, DMDK president Vijayakant said that the State must have given compensation to farmers in October. “If a farmer who owns 5 acres of land approaches co-operative banks for loan, he/she is given loan only for one acre. They have to seek funds from a loan shark for the other four acres,” he said. He said that the State government must provide compensation to the families of farmers who have committed suicide.
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