Farmers Movement Archive

Stalin reiterates corruption charges against state government

TRICHY: DMK president M K Stalin has alleged that chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami calls himself “Cauvery Kappalar” (Guardian of Cauvery) and a farmer only to cover up corruption involved in direct procurement centres, kudimaramath works and PM-Kisan schemes in the state. Addressing farmers through video-conferencing as part of “Tamizhagam meetpom” campaign in Thanjavur on Saturday, he said the AIADMK government has mortgaged the state’s rights to protect its corrupt regime. “If he were a real farmer, would he support the three farm laws that would destroy agriculture?” Stalin asked. Even Prime minister Narendra Modi has acknowledged for the first time that farmers may be sceptical of minimum support price (MSP), but Edappadi Palaniswami keeps saying that the three laws will benefit farmers, he stated. “The government said it has spent over Rs 1,600 crore on kudimaramath works. However, the water released in Mettur dam does not even reach the tail end. Tamil Nadu is the only state where corruption has taken place in the PM-Kisan scheme. We have handed over a list of ministers with corruption charges to the Governor of Tamil Nadu,” he said. “Today is the tsunami memorial day. I personally handed over Rs 21 lakh as tsunami fund to the then chief minister J Jayalalithaa. However, no work was done for the victims. After DMK took over charge in 2006, I carried out the task of building tsunami houses,” he claimed. Stalin said no farmer has received compensation for crop loss caused by cyclone Nivar. Though DMK demanded that farmers be given Rs 10,000 as interim relief, the government did not accept it. Already a central team has inspected the loss but we are told that another committee will come. How many more teams will come to assess the impact, he asked.

The Times of India

2020-12-27

Trichy