Chennai, Oct 23 (IANS) Tamil Nadu BJP President Nainar Nagenthran and NTK chief coordinator Seeman have urged the state government to swiftly provide compensation and relief to farmers in the Cauvery delta whose paddy fields have been inundated by torrential rains.

The leaders accused the ruling DMK of negligence and corruption, alleging that its failure to act on time had caused severe damage to the Kuruvai harvest.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Nagenthran said it was “heart-wrenching” that more than 8,000 metric tonnes of harvested Kuruvai paddy had been ruined in the recent rains across the delta districts.

He sharply criticised the DMK government for not procuring the harvested crop even after ten days, leaving farmers’ months of hard labour to waste. “The government’s apathy has pushed delta farmers into despair. The DMK must immediately speed up paddy procurement and prevent further losses. Over one lakh acres of paddy ready for harvest have been submerged, and farmers are in tears,” Nagenthran said.

He demanded that Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, who calls himself a “resident of the delta”, act immediately by launching emergency procurement drives and compensating affected farmers with Rs 50,000 per acre.

“Mere slogans will not help the farmers — the Chief Minister must act with urgency,” he added.

Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) coordinator Seeman also issued a scathing statement against the state government, accusing it of “criminal indifference” to farmers’ suffering.

“The DMK government’s refusal to procure locally produced paddy while refusing rice imports from Andhra Pradesh exposes the hypocrisy of the so-called Dravidian model,” he said.

Seeman noted that Tamil Nadu’s farmers, who toil day and night through harsh conditions, have long struggled to receive fair prices for their produce.

He alleged that the government had fixed procurement prices far below production costs, further crippling farmers’ livelihoods.

“Corruption is rampant at the Direct Procurement Centres, where Rs 40 is being illegally collected per paddy bundle from farmers. Why has the government not acted to end this daylight robbery?” Seeman asked.

He urged the DMK to immediately clean up irregularities at procurement centres, ensure transparent payments, and provide fair compensation to Samba farmers whose crops have been lost in the floods.

Both Nagenthran and Seeman warned that continued government apathy could lead to an agrarian crisis in Tamil Nadu’s fertile delta region unless urgent corrective measures were taken.

–IANS

aal/dpb