CHENNAI: A campaign will be conducted from April 10 to 26 to highlight the issues affecting the farm sector, Communist Party of India State secretary D. Pandian said on Tuesday.

He told reporters here that the campaign, to be undertaken by activists of the Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam (TNVS) and the Tamil Nadu Vivasaya Thozhilalar Sangam (TNVTS) coinciding with the birth centenary of B. Srinivasa Rao, doyen of the peasants' movement, would culminate in a rally in Chennai on April 27. Two teams — one from Kanyakumari and the other from Udhagamandalam — would cover hundreds of villages and towns during their 3,500-km-journey.

A detailed memorandum, signed by around one crore persons, would be submitted to Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi. It would call for urgent steps to alleviate the problems of agriculturists and farm workers.

Mr. Pandian said the campaign was not aimed at any party or the Government. The TNVS and the TNVTS wanted to stress the urgent need for finding a solution to the agrarian crisis, as over 70 per cent of the population depended on the farm sector.

TNVS general secretary V. Duraimanickam said the campaign would call for uninterrupted water supply for irrigation, remunerative prices, assured market, action against middlemen, adequate credit and provision of modern technologies to overcome the problems in the farm sector.

Placing agriculture behind services and industry had resulted in inadequate allocation of funds for the erstwhile priority sector, he said. The need for linking the peninsular rivers, ending mindless sand quarrying and extending the monopoly procurement scheme to all districts were the other demands.

TNVTS general secretary R. Mutharasan said women among the locally displaced farm workers were the worst hit. Though thousands of farm hands had migrated to other States, many were treated as bonded labourers.

He criticised the United Progressive Alliance Government for not enacting a comprehensive law to safeguard the interests of farm workers, though its common minimum programme had accepted it in principle. According to him, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Government had implemented only two of the 43 recommendations of the Kolappan Committee, which submitted its report in 1997. He urged the Government to implement the other recommendations immediately.

The extension of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme to all backward districts in the State, issue of ration cards to all eligible people in rural areas, provision of identity cards to all members of the Tamil Nadu Farm Workers Welfare Board and increasing the quantum of cheap rice to 30 kg a month for farm workers would also be highlighted, he said.

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