DMK government to blame for paddy procurement fiasco, alleges Nainar Nagenthran

State BJP president Nainar Nagenthran on Saturday said the DMK government should be held responsible for the fiasco in procurement of paddy from delta farmers.

Speaking to reporters here after participating in a State-level meeting on the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, he said the State government should have made all necessary arrangements well in advance to procure paddy immediately after the harvest. It was the responsibility of the government machinery to draw up a plan by considering the kuruvai cultivation area and expected time of harvest. But it had failed to put necessary infrastructure in place, he charged.

Asked about the DMK’s accusation that the Centre had betrayed the delta farmers by refusing to increase the permissible moisture content for paddy procurement from 17% to 22%, Mr. Nagenthran said the Centre could not be held responsible for it. “The State government spent ₹10 crore to procure technical instruments for predicting the rainfall pattern. However, it could not make use of them. Moreover, it did not have sufficient warehouses to store paddy. By the time the procurement drive was stepped up, the harvested paddy got drenched in the rain, thereby increasing its moisture content. It was the failure of the State government. The Union government was in no way responsible for it,” Mr. Nagenthran alleged. He also claimed that farmers had been forced to pay a bribe of ₹40 per bag of paddy procurement.

The BJP leader said the DMK government had wasted 4.5 years of its rule by finding fault with the schemes and programmes being implemented by the Centre. The DMK had done nothing concrete for people’s welfare except increase taxes. Chief Miniser M.K. Stalin devoted his time and energy only to make his son Udayanidhi the Chief Minister, he alleged.

BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh, former State presidents, K. Annamalai, Pon. Radhakrishnan, and Tamilisai Soundarrajan and others participated in the meeting.