Tamil Nadu CM slams Centre over rejection of plea on paddy moisture norms

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday slammed the BJP-led Union government for rejecting the state's request to relax moisture norms for paddy procurement and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately intervene to protect the state's farmers.

In a social media post, Stalin said the Centre had turned down Tamil Nadu's plea to allow procurement of paddy with a higher moisture content in view of heavy northeast monsoon rains in the Cauvery delta and other districts.

Only on Wednesday did the Prime Minister attend a farmers meet in Coimbatore, after the Centre had denied a Metro rail project for the western city, besides Madurai.

"Even before the dampness of his visit has dried, the union BJP government has rejected our request for relaxation of moisture norms in paddy procurement," the CM said.

According to him, the state has been pressing the Centre to raise the permissible moisture level in paddy from the existing 17 per cent to 22 per cent for the current Kharif Marketing Season, arguing that continuous rains and high humidity made it difficult for farmers to fully dry their harvest.

Stalin pointed out that Tamil Nadu has recorded a bumper paddy harvest this season and that any refusal to ease norms would severely affect farmers who are already battling adverse weather conditions.

He recalled that based on the state's representations in the past, the Centre had granted relaxations in moisture norms for paddy procurement, and questioned why a similar concession was now being denied.

"Why is Tamil Nadu's plea to allow procurement of paddy with higher moisture content not reaching the prime minister's ears; why is the anguished voice of farmers going unheard," he asked, alleging that the decision betrayed a lack of concern for the farming community.

Stalin said farmers whose crops had suffered due to unseasonal rains were neither being given adequate compensation nor being allowed the small relief of a higher moisture limit in procurement, and he wondered how such an approach could be called farmer-friendly.

Reiterating his demand, the DMK leader urged the Union government to immediately reconsider its stand on moisture norms, accept Tamil Nadu's proposals in full and announce a decision that would reassure farmers and people across the state.