AIADMK rally demanding fixed price for tea

Chennai, Aug 4: The Opposition AIADMK will take out a rally at Kothagiri in Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu on August five, demanding the Centre and state governments to fix price for tea as per the Madras High Court order.

Announcing the agitational programme, AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalithaa, in a statement here said the rally, led by party headquarters secretary and legislator K A Sengottaiyan, would begin from Kothagiri bus stand and end at Anna stadium.

The rally would culminate in a public meeting, presided over by Mr Sengottaiyan in the presence of Nilgiris district secretary M Selvaraj, she said, and called upon the tea growers, farm workers and genral public to take part in the public meeting and extend their cooperation.

Ms Jayalalithaa said even after the High Court passed orders directing the authorities to fix price for tea, the Centre and the state governments remained lethargic.

She said the DMK, after coming to power, had removed the subsidy for tea and levied Value Added Tax (VAT), which led to a massive slide in the prices of tea, but thanks to the one day fast observed by the party, the prices for tea were raised again.

However, to address the long pending demand of the tea growers, the High Court had directed the Centre and the state governments to fix price for tea, but they failed to implement the order, Ms Jayalalithaa added.

UNI