Farmers seek procurement of maize through State government

Tamil Nadu Farmers Association members on Monday submitted a petition at the Collectorate in Thoothukudi, seeking procurement of maize produced across Tamil Nadu through the State government.

In a petition, they said: “In Thoothukudi district, maize serves as an important crop of cultivation in rainfed agriculture areas. This year, the cultivation of black gram and green gram has reduced, with maize cultivation overtaking them, covering around two lakh acres.”

It added that although insufficient monsoon rainfall had affected maize production, it was being sold at ₹1,500 per quintal, which was ₹2,500 per quintal last year.

Puviraj, district secretary, Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Association said, “At present, maize has been procured in the district through traders, who are using middle men to reduce the amount of ₹2,435, the MSP fixed by the Central government.”

He added that traders were forming syndicates for the procurement, further affecting the livelihood of farmers. The Collector had said that steps would be initiated to procure maize for ethanol production at the Gangaikondan SIPCOT. “Although the maize production in the State is lower than required, traders are still forming syndicates to procure it from the farmers, leading to severe distress among the maize farmers,” he said.

The petition was submitted at the weekly grievance redressal meeting chaired by Collector K. Elambahavath.

In another petition, daily wage farm workers employed at V. O. Chidambaranar (VOC) Agricultural College and Research Institute, Killikulkam, demanded regularisation of their employment.

According to the petition, around 34 daily wage workers had been working over 25 years at the institute. “In 2019, 28 workers were regularised. However, the remaining workers have not been made permanent, until today,” it added.

The petitioners further stated that during DMK’s election campaign, it was promised that daily wage workers who had completed 10 years of service would be regularised. They requested the Collector to recommend to the government that their service be regularised.

Request for closure of liquor shops

A petition was submitted on behalf of Thoothukudi Catholic Diocese.

Director of Prohibition of Liquor Council Rev. Jayanthan D. Grace and administrators submitted the petition stating that multiple requests had been made to the government to close the liquor shops on Good Friday. This year, Good Friday falls on April 3. They requested the government to close the liquor shops on that day, urging the Collector to recommend to the government to take policy decisions in this regard.