Cancellation of gram sabha meetings scheduled to be held on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi on Friday came in for widespread criticism from farmers’ organisations and opposition parties.
Members of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam conducted an unofficial gram sabha meetings in some of the villages in the central region and claimed to have adopted resolutions against the three Acts on agriculture reforms.
In Tiruchi, former Minister and DMK principal secretary K.N. Nehru participated in village meetings at Alundur and Mullikarumbur and highlighted the “adverse impact” that the three legislations would have on agriculture and farmers. The Acts would lead to corporatisation of agriculture. The State government had cancelled the meetings only to thwart attempts to adopt resolutions against the farm Acts, he said.
A section of DMK cadre and farmers staged protests at a couple of places in Tiruvarur district against the cancellation of the meetings and the three farm Acts.
Farmers explained
In Thanjavur, DMK office-bearers conducted meetings in some panchayats to explain the “adverse effects” that the farm Acts would have on agriculture. MLAs and elected representatives of local bodies participated in such meetings held in various villages in Tiruchi, Thanjavur, Pudukottai and other districts in the central region.
Meanwhile, P.R. Pandian, president, Tamil Nadu All Farmers Associations Coordination Committee, strongly condemned the State government’s decision to cancel the gram sabha meetings at the last minute when farmers had planned to move resolutions against the Centre’s three Acts on agriculture reforms.
Speaking to reporters at Irulnikki in Tiruvarur district, Mr. Pandian alleged that the State had resorted to the move at the instigation of the Union government, fearing the adoption of resolutions at the gram sabhas as the new legislations had been challenged in the Supreme Court. The move was nothing but an attempt to stifle voices of farmers.
The cancellation of meetings on Gandhi Jayanthi would only temporarily delay the adoption of resolutions against the farm Acts in the democratically-empowered gram sabhas, he said.