TN farmers urge Centre to implement Swaminathan Commission report

Federation of Tamil Nadu Agriculturists Associations said even Manmohan Singh government had put the report on the backburner.

Coimbatore, July 12: A farmers of Tamil Nadu, who have been facing serious financial crisis for many years now, urged the Centre to expedite implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations to alleviate their plight.

Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi had time and again assured that the right minimum support price (MSP) would be fixed for farmers' produce on the lines of the recommendations, the NDA government had so far failed to act, Federation of Tamil Nadu Agriculturists Associations secretary, S Nallasamy said in a statement.

With farmers in Tamil Nadu struggling for survival due to three consecutive droughts, bringing agricultural activities at a standstill, implementation of the recommendations would give them much needed succour, he said.

Nallasamy said though farmers had requested successive governments to implement the Swaminathan Commission report, submitted in 2005, the BJP-led government had implemented the seventh Pay Commission to government employees, thus again neglecting farmers, who are the backbone of the nation.

The then Manmohan Singh government also had put the report on the backburner and implemented the sixth pay Commission, Nallasamy said.

Considering the plight of farmers across the country, the Modi government should implement the Commission's recommendations at the earliest, he said.

In the past four years, Tamil Nadu has witnessed the devastating floods in 2015, touted as the worst heavy rainfall witnessed in over 100 years; followed by the cyclones and in the present year, the failed monsoons have resulted in drought.

PTI