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FB Live: Farmer’s son Venkaiah Naidu takes oath as Vice President but TN farmers’ protest continues at Jantar Mantar

Praising Venkaiah Naidu, who took the oath of office as Vice President today, as a farmer’s son who has made gigantic strides in public life, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “I always felt that he touched more on villages and farmers …with a greater interest…it has been close to his heart.”

Some two kilometres from where Naidu took oath, farmers from Tamil Nadu have been on protest since July 16. Unfortunately, they are not as lucky as VP Naidu. They are in severe distress because they are farmers and farmers’ sons.

The once-fertile Cauvery delta districts are facing a serious agrarian crisis due to a drought-like situation. Earlier in March, the protesters reached Delhi with the skulls of dead farmers. In the 40-day protest at Jantar Mantar, they left both the central and state governments red-faced. From shaving their heads, to running naked and eating rats – farmers used every way to grab the attention of the central government. The protest was called off after TN Chief Minister E Palaniswami assured them that their demands will be addressed within two months.

Later in June, protesters led by P Ayyakannu had organised a two-day protest in Chennai. On the 27th day in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, the farmers’ are still resolute to continue their protest for at least 100 days. Three of the six demands of TN farmers’ are a loan waiver, the formation of a Cauvery river management board and a decent price for agricultural produce.

According to Sellaperumal, one of the protesting farmers, CM Palaniswami on Friday morning assured them that he would raise the TN agrarian crisis with PM Modi. The state government had earlier demanded Rs 39,000 crore for drought relief from the Centre.

The author can be contacted on Twitter @tweets_amit. 

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