nEdappadi Palaniswami, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu lambasted the agitation being staged in national capital New Delhi allegedly by farmers from Punjab and Haryana. Speaking to farmers in the Cauvery delta districts of Thiruvarur and Nagapattinam, he said he fully endorsed the Centre’s new agricultural laws which were in response to the long pending demands of farmers in the country.
The chief minister said that farmers in Punjab had been under the control of agents and middlemen since long. “Since the new laws have provisions to save the farmers from the exploitation of middlemen and agents, they have instigated the farmers to protest,” said Palaniswami. He said the Opposition DMK which is demanding the repeal of the laws was playing to the gallery.
“The DMK’s election manifesto of 2016 assembly election had demanded the implementation of reforms which have been enacted by the Centrenow. How can they make a vault face and ask for the repeal of such laws,” asked Palaniswami.
“As a proud farmer, I know the sufferings of the agricultural community, caused by the inability to get adequate prices for the produce due to various reasons. I support the laws as they will protect agriculture and the interests of the farmers,” said the chief minister who waded through paddy fields in Thiruvarur ,fully and partially inundated due to heavy rains caused by Cyclones Nivar and Burevi.
Interacting with the farmers who were affected by the cyclones, he assured that all of them would be suitably compensated once the survey by the department officials was completed.
Palaniswamy also welcomed Tuesday’s Supreme Court verdict giving green signal for the 277.3 km lonh Chennai-Krishnagiri-Salem state-of-the art National Highway project worth Rs 10, 000 crore. A number of organisations had approached the apex court challenging the Government’s move to go ahead with land acquisition for the eight-lane
Greenfield Highway which would bring down the travel time by half.