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AIADMK activists stage demo

— Photo:T. Singaravelou

MORALE BOOSTER: AIADMK treasurer D. Jayakumar addressing the party activists at a demonstration in Puducherry on Saturday.

PUDUCHERRY: Activists of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) staged a protest demonstration near the railway station here on Saturday demanding that the Centre announce Rs.1,000 as minimum support price (MSP) for a quintal of paddy.

Some farmers, who took part in the demonstration, dumped paddy on the road as a mark of protest against the Centre’s failure to consider their demand . They also raised slogans criticising the Centre and the Union Territory (UT) government for not taking steps to alleviate their problems.

Treasurer of the AIADMK legislature party in Tamil Nadu and secretary of the All World MGR Manram D. Jayakumar, who led the demonstration, flayed the constituents of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Pattali Makkal Katchi and the Left parties for maintaining a “stoic silence” though the Centre had not conceded the demand.

He accused the UPA government of adopting “double standards” in fixing the MSP for wheat and paddy. It had fixed Rs.1,000 as MSP for wheat while in the case of paddy, the price stood only at Rs.725 for fine variety and Rs.675 for coarse variety, he said.

If the State governments had the will, there was the way to meet the demand of the paddy cultivators, he said, adding that the Union Territory government should come forward to provide Rs.350 a quintal as incentive till the Centre increased the MSP.

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