Is centre responsible for woes of TamilNadu farmer
Several politicians in Tamil Nadu belonging to different opposition political parties, some film actors and people who claim themselves to be activists , environmentalists and revolutionaries have been travelling from Tamil Nadu to Delhi to meet the protestors , taking photograph with them and speaking to them for sometime in front of camera. To cap it all , the vice president of Congress party has now visited the protestors and hailed their demonstration and used the occasion to find fault with Modi government .
Now, to add muscle to the protesting farmers in Delhi, some young men have been trying to organize demonstration and protests in Tamil Nadu to give momentum for the protest.
While there is considerable sympathy and support from the cross section of people in Tamil Nadu for the plight of farmers in the state due to drought conditions, there are many people who wonder as to whether such sort of protests by farmers at Delhi is an appropriate method to find solution for their problems?
Unfortunately , the visual TV Tamil media are organizing debates on the farmers’ protest in Delhi and seem to be trying to give a political colour to the agitation and seem to be bent upon projecting the protests by the farmers as an anti Modi government protest and spreading an impression that Modi government is acting against the interests of Tamil Nadu.
It is high time that the facts should be clearly explained and the ground realities assessed.
The fact is that south west monsoon which happen between July and September was much below normal in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka states in 2016. As a result, Karnataka government could not release the stipulated quantity of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu , which considerably affected the farming operations in the delta region in the state. The Tamil Nadu farmers protested about the non release of adequate quantity of water from Karnataka and the matter was referred to judiciary. Several orders were issued by Supreme Court of India which was not implemented by Karnataka government fully, saying that there is scarcity of water in Karnataka itself.
It was then thought that the on coming north east monsoon between October and December would relieve the water stress in Tamil Nadu. Unfortunately, north east monsoon also was a near total failure.
Meanwhile, with the passing away of Jayalalitha , who was Chief mInister of Tamil Nadu , the governance in the state became unstable.
In the beginning, the farmers wanted monetary relief from Tamil Nadu government, which is responsible for looking after the interests of the farmers in the state.
Sadly, the finances of the Tamil Nadu government are in extremely bad shape with the current account deficit of more than Rs.16000 Cr. , fiscal deficit of more than Rs.60,000 cr. , outstanding debt of more than Rs. 3 lakh crore and the interest on the debt amounting to more than Rs. 25000 Cr. per annum. The ground reality is that the badly managed economy of the Tamil Nadu government has no resources left to come to the aid of the farmers.
Concealing it’s lack of finances, Tamil Nadu government demanded that the government of India should give around Rs. 39,000 cr. as aid and grant to Tamil Nadu to to give relief to the farmers in the state. There is no information in the public domain as to how Tamil Nadu government has arrived at the figures with detailed facts, calculation and explanation.
Now, the Tamil Nadu farmers are sitting in dharna in Delhi demanding that government of India should give the money demanded by the Tamil Nadu government. It is strange that they are not expecting the state government to give the money.
There are 29 states and 7 union territories in India . Several other states in the country like Maharashtra , Karnataka and Kerala have undergone drought conditions and the farmers in these states are also demanding huge money from government by way of relief measure.
There are demand for waiving the farm loans running to several thousand crores of rupees from states like UP and Punjab and these states too want government of India to give money by way of aid and grant.
The question is no one seems to be thinking as to where government of India would get money from to meet the demands of the states which mismanage their own finances. Both state governments and government of India depend upon tax income for the needs of the governance.
Senior central ministers have met the protesting farmers from Tamil Nadu in Delhi and have assured them that they would do whatever possible. But the farmers refuse to accept their promises and demand instant relief.
There are number of schemes specially introduced by Modi government in recent months such as crop insurance schemes, kisan card etc. to support the farming community and it appears that the protesting farmers are not impressed by them.
Finally, there are many political leaders and cinema actors from Tamil Nadu who cry from roof top about the plight of farmers. It is well known that many of these cinema actors earn several crores of rupees and number of political parties in the state have enormous resources , which they lavishly spend during the election campaign. However, these entities do not open their own purse even as symbolic gestures to relieve the plight of farmers but extend only lip support.
One only hopes that the Tamil Nadu government would convince the protesting farmers in Delhi that they give up the present form of agitation promising to find quick solution. However, the lack of credibility of the political leaders in the state is the real issue.
Perhaps, God alone can help Tamil Nadu farmers at this time by showering them with rain.
N.S.Venkataraman
Nandini Voice For The Deprived
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