Farmers stage demonstration in Dindigul

The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and the All India Agricultural Workers Union (AIAWU) on Tuesday staged a demonstration in front of the Dindigul Collectorate urging the Central and the State governments to fulfil their charter of demands.

Farmers, led by farmer leaders former MLA A. Lazar and K.P. Perumal, said free house site pattas should be granted to farmers and agricultural workers. The beneficiaries should be identified and necessary steps should be taken in this regard, they said.

They sought a better and effective implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme. Though this was promised, necessary steps have not been taken in this regard, they complained.

The benefits of the government schemes should also be extended to tenant farmers. There should be proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act. Land titles should be issued in the name of farmers who were traditionally engaged in agriculture in forest lands in places like Kodaikanal, Sirumalai and Pannaikadu, they said.

Proper compensation should be provided to the farmers whose lands were obtained for the Dindigul Ring Road project. It should be re-evaluated and better compensation should be paid, they said. More than 200 farmers participated in the protest and raised slogans against the Central and the State governments.