AIADMK chief flays TVK govt for negligence in paddy procurement

Chennai: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday strongly condemned the C Joseph Vijay-led TVK government for its negligence in paddy procurement, which resulted in crop damage and financial losses following sudden rains across Tamil Nadu.

In a statement, the former chief minister accused the four-month-old administration of deceiving all sections of the public. He stated there is a vast difference between the state government’s words and actions.

“Thousands of paddy bags brought by farmers to direct procurement centres in various parts of the state, including Thanjavur, Mayiladuthurai, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Cuddalore, Erode, and Gobichettipalayam, have been left unprocured and piled up on roadsides,” Palaniswami noted.

Due to the sudden rains, these bags have been completely soaked and ruined, causing financial losses to the hard-working farmers, he said. He recalled that despite raising the issue of delayed procurement and sprouting of the harvested paddy grains during the previous Assembly session, the ministers concerned merely offered pacifying replies. They failed to take concrete administrative steps to protect the produce, he charged.

Highlighting the extent of agrarian distress, Palaniswami pointed out that recent sudden downpours in core Delta districts such as Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam have severely submerged agricultural crops cultivated on approximately 2,000 acres.

Citing specific regional damages, the statement outlined the following losses: In Mayiladuthurai district, areas including Nallathukudi, Valuvur, and Kolangudi, around 20,000 paddy bags were damaged. In Cuddalore district, areas like Virudhachalam and Rajendrapatnam, about 10,000 paddy bags suffered damage. In Kanchipuram district near Salavakkam and Melperumanallur, approximately 20,000 paddy bags were ruined. In Chengalpattu district, at the Achirupakkam and Thozhuppedu open procurement centres, around 50,000 metric tonne of paddy were soaked in the rain.

The AIADMK chief also heavily slammed the state government for its failure to release Cauvery water on time for Kuruvai cultivation. This inaction prevented farmers from completing agricultural cycles, thereby breaking the promise to fully procure cultivated crops.

Taking a broader dig at the TVK administration, Palaniswami claimed the state’s law and order situation is rapidly deteriorating. He accused the inexperienced government of being paralysed and clueless about operating the administrative machinery. “People have begun to realise that this fake government neither has the intellect to listen to others nor its own intellect to function,” he said.

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The Hans India