Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisami has demanded Rs 39,595 crore as drought relief fund to mitigate the crisis.
The 80-odd men who are protesting with skulls at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi have decided to continue their protest after a central team recommended 'partly' assistance of Rs 2,096.80 crore as drought relief. The skulls, the protesters say, are the remains of Tamil farmers who committed suicide due to severe drought. These men have been protesting at Jantar Mantar — the protest site in the Capital — since March 14.
"We are going to continue the protest indefinitely until the Centre fulfils all our demands. The state government has sought Rs 39,565 crore as drought relief from the National Disaster Response Fund. But the central team has recommended a partly sum of Rs 2,096.80 crore as drought relief. It is grossly inadequate. The state has witnessed an unprecedented drought in the last 150 years and the whole state has been declared drought-hit," South Indian Rivers Inter-Linking Farmers Association president P Ayyakannu who is leading the protest told DNA over the phone.
On Tuesday, the central team visited the drought-hit areas in Tamil Nadu from January 22 to 25 to assess the damages and suggested the amount. The subcommittee has recommended a relief package of Rs 1,748 crore to the Home Ministry. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will chair the high-level committee meeting on March 23 which will take a final call on the package to be sanctioned for Tamil Nadu.
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisami has demanded Rs 39,595 crore as drought relief fund to mitigate the crisis.
Ayyakannu, along with other farmers, has been camping at Jantar Mantar in a green dhoti and with at least eight skulls at display. "We want the government to waive off all the loans taken by the farmers including crop loans and gold mortgage. The government should fix remunerative price for produce. To overcome the drought and monsoon failure, the Centre should take up interlinking of the river," he said and added that the protest will only end when all their demands are met.
Due to the 62 per cent deficit in rainfall in 2016, the state has witnessed over 200 farmer suicides since November last year. The state government announced a package of Rs 2,247 crore for 32.30 lakh farmers hit by drought.
"For the first time, the government has announced a package to compensate the input cost incurred by the farmers citing the Centre's guidelines. Many farmers who did not take up cultivation fearing crop loss did not get any compensation at all. Besides, the compensation will be paid for the farmers to an extent of five acres only," said Tamil Nadu Farmers Association general secretary P Shanmugham. He said that agricultural workers were not given any relief by the government.
With the Supreme Court deciding to hear the Cauvery dispute case on July 11 after ordering Karnataka to release 2,000 cusecs of water a day till then, he said any hope for the farmers is also lost.
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