The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Cuddalore News : `Ensure minimum statutory price for sugarcane growers'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 14, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Cuddalore

`Ensure minimum statutory price for sugarcane growers'

By Our Special Correspondent

CUDDALORE, APRIL 13. The Tamil Nadu Land Owners' Association has set the agenda for candidates in the Chidambaram Parliamentary constituency to attract votes. For, it has embarked upon a campaign to create awareness among voters of the unresolved or pending issues in the constituency and called upon the electorate to support that candidate who will redress these grievances.

According to the vice-president, Kothattai M. Arumugham, the constituency has been neglected all these years and therefore, very little development has taken place till now.

Ever since the election has been announced, the association has been distributing handbills calling upon the voters to elect the candidate who will address these issues.

It has stressed that all voters should exercise their franchise. It has noted that every year the Neyveli Lignite Corporation is paying Rs. 100 crores as royalty to the government.

It has noted that if the NLC was made to earmark 25 per cent of the royalty amount, as in the case of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, the funds can be utilised for improvement of roads, construction of checkdams and provision of drinking water facility.

The association has pointed out that the Tamil Nadu sugarmills has failed to implement the statutory minimum price announced by the Centre for 2002-03 and 2003-04. The prospective candidate should take necessary action to get the revised SMP for cane growers.

It has suggested linking the Chidambaram-Salem road to the National Highways to form a road network connecting the Cuddalore and Pondicherry ports. It has called for the revival of the urea unit by the NLC and resumption of production to the extent of 2,000 tonnes.

It has also sought the resolution of the issues relating to those who handed over their land for the NLC formation.

The association has called for introduction of the wireless-in-local-loop facility in the Pennadam and Thittakudi blocks.

It has also noted that the proposal to construct a railway overbridge near the Annamalai University is yet to materialise and the gauge conversion in the Vriddhachalam-Salem section is yet take place.

It observed that after the gauge conversion the Rameswaram-Chennai Passenger was cancelled, causing inconvenience to the poor people in undertaking the journey at affordable cost.

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