Vanathi Srinivasan, BJP MLA and the National President of the BJP Women’s Wing, criticized the agricultural budget for failing to address the fundamental issues facing farmers. She expressed disappointment that no announcements were made in the budget regarding providing coconut oil instead of palm oil, which would benefit coconut farmers.
In a press release, MLA Vanathi Srinivasan said, “As usual, the Tamil Nadu government’s agriculture budget is full of rhetoric. During the discussion on demands for grants, the Minister of Agriculture read out the policy briefs, announcements, and budgets that had been tabled in the Legislative Assembly. Apart from wearing a green towel to deliver the Budget speech and presenting the Chief Minister with grains rather than a bouquet, there was nothing new in the Budget.”
She added, “Because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts, this year has been designated as the World Year of Small Grains. In this regard, announcements in the budget such as the establishment of a small grains organization for ₹82 crores and the provision of small grains in ration shops are welcome steps. These should be fully implemented rather than mere declarations.”
MLA further said, “The real issues facing farmers are not addressed in the budget. The cultivated area and production have increased, according to the budget. However, in reality, even for our necessities like rice, pulses, oilseeds, large onions, and vegetables, we have to depend on other states. Farmers’ problems will end only if the income of the farmers increases. To achieve that, the government should provide a fair price for the farmers’ produce. As the production of food grains increases, the government should formulate schemes to store them and convert them into value-added products. However, there are no specific schemes in this budget to address the issue.”
The press release reads, “Replacing palm oil with coconut oil in ration shops will end the misery of lakhs of coconut farmers. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin made this request when he was the opposition leader. I repeatedly argued in the Legislative Assembly and elsewhere that coconut oil should be provided in the ration shops in place of palm oil. However, the government did not heed my request. Also, small grains that have been promised for distribution in ration shops should be purchased from Tamil Nadu’s farmers.”
MLA went on to say, “All the agricultural lands in Tamil Nadu are being converted into residential plots and buildings due to urbanization. Water bodies are also being encroached upon. If this is not stopped, in the future we will have to depend on other states for all food products. The DMK does not seem to have realized this danger. Half of the farmers’ problems will be resolved, if farmers’ requests for the government to increase the procurement price for sugarcane and paddy to ₹5,000 per tonne for sugarcane and ₹3,000 per quintal of paddy are granted. However, there has only been a small increase in the procurement price.”
MLA Vanathi Srinivasan concluded by saying, “Furthermore, the government does not purchase all of the farmers’ produce, citing the moisture content in food grains. However, there is no solution to this problem in the budget. On the whole, the budget has been prepared with the intention of deceiving the farmers through rhetoric and empty announcements.”
— Vanathi Srinivasan (@VanathiBJP) March 21, 2023
Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.