Small scale Nagai salt producers worried with auction

As many salt producers' licence are set to expire in March this year. The small scale salt producers are worried about losing their livelihood as their salt pans are about to be auctioned by the Central government, instead of renewing their licences. It is reported that the Central government is preparing to float tenders to lease the salt pans across Tamil Nadu.

"We cannot afford to compete with corporates in the auctions. The fields which we had spent years making them as salt production units would go to someone's hands. We hoped that the licences would be renewed for another 20 years," said V Senthil, the Secretary of Small Small Scale Salt Producers Federation in Vedaranyam. The federation had been appealing to the Salat Commissionerate under Ministry of Commerce and Industry to renew licenses.

"I have leased only three-fourths of an acre and producing since the 1990s. It might go into auction as part of a larger land area along with fields of 50 other marginal salt producers. I am not privileged enough to reclaim the land," P Jayaraman, a marginal salt producer from Kailavanampettai said

"We do not know any other work than salt production. We will lose working opportunities if the production becomes mechanised and automated," said Sankar, a salt worker from Agasthiyampalli. It is said that around 15000 salt workers are directly involved in salt production in the small scale production in Vedaranyam.

"My father Padma Shri V Appakutti had converted hundreds of acres of barren lands into salt production units 60 years ago. Our licenses were renewed twice. Salt fields are resources that do not get exhausted, unlike minerals. The Centre should treat our industry distinctly and not allow them to go for bids. We will follow the rules, accept taxations and keep off encroachments. We want our licenses to be automatically renewed," said A Vedarathinam, a salt producer and grandson of Sardar Vedaratnam Pillai.