TN This Week: Farmers to Intensify Struggle, Sugarcane Farmers Demand Pending Dues from Sugar Mills, IMA Protest Against AYUSH Nod for Mixopathy

The farmers’ organisations in Tamil Nadu, led by the All India Kisan Sangarsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), have decided to intensify the protests against the three farm laws, with the state leadership of the AIKSCC calling for indefinite sit-in protests.

In addition to that, the sugarcane farmers of Tenkasi held a protest this week against the non-payment of dues from sugar mills to the tune of Rs 24 crore. The farmers believe that the new laws will further add trouble to them considering the entry of giant corporates into the farm sector.

The doctors from the state held protests against the order of permitting post graduate Ayurveda doctors to perform surgeries. They boycotted duties for the day, while emergency services were uninterrupted. NewsClick brings a roundup of the happenings across the state this week.

FARMERS TO CONTINUE PROTEST

The farmers in the state have resolved to carry forward the struggle against the three farm laws, after the successful bandh on December 8. The AIKSCC has called for blocking the toll gates and indefinite sit-in protests in front of the district collector offices on December 14 as part of the national protest program. The central trade unions have also extended support to the protest programs of the farmers’ organisations.

Earlier in the week, the call for the Bharat Bandh evoked huge response across different sectors. The left parties and the opposition from the state led by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) took the protest to the streets in support of the bandh. Several thousands of activists were detained following rallies, picketing and road rokos across the state.

The AIKS leaders have accused both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) governments of betraying the farmers. They cited the struggles of the sugarcane farmers, involved in contract farming, who are suffering due to the non-payment of pending amounts from the private sugar mills, as the classic case of failure of such policies. Read More

SUGARCANE FARMERS DEMAND

The sugarcane farmers of Tenkasi district, who supplied cane to Dharani Sugars, also took to the streets in the past week following delays in payment. The company had promised to pay the dues by October to the tune of Rs 23.72 crore to the farmers. The amount due is for the cane supplied in 2018-19.

However, the company has refused to pay Rs 137.50 incentive per tonne, the farmers alleged, while an incentive of amounting to Rs 10 crore has also not been paid for the period from 2004 to 2008.

A total of Rs 1,434 crore are to be paid by the private sugar mills to the sugarcane farmers. The farmers cultivate cane as per the contract entered to with the mills, which are expected to pay the farmers as per the Minimum Support Price (MSP). But, inspite of several directives to pay the farmers within 14 days of delivering cane in the factory, the farmers continue to fight for the money from the mills.

D Raveendran, general secretary of Tamil Nadu Sugarcane Farmers’ Association, said, “This is one of the reasons why we oppose the three farm laws. Any security of the farmers will be snatched and the contract farming has proved to be a troublesome process for the farmers.”

Meanwhile, the management of the mill has promised, again, to pay the farmers before December 31. Read More

FORCEFUL EVICTION LEAVE PEOPLE IN STREET

The residents staying near the banks of Coovum River in Chennai were forcefully evicted on December 9, even after the government and the corporation promised to consider the plea of 327 families. The families were residents of the locality for around four decades and are engaged in menial jobs.

The government has planned to move the people to a building of the Tamil Nadu slum clearance board (TNSCB), more than 30 kms away, affecting their livelihood. The residents allege that flats built by the TNSCB are available in the nearby areas, but for reasons unknown, they are asked to shift to the outskirts of the city.

The leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI[M]) had protested against the move and met the deputy chief minister and the commissioner of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) over the issue. Even though they promised to suspend the eviction move, but after the talks, the CPI(M) leaders were detained and the houses were demolished, leaving the families on the streets.

The state secretary of the CPI(M), K Balakrishnan has accused the government of targeting the socially and economically backward people for encroachment. The party has also alleged that the big corporate houses have a free run in occupying the river banks and ponds in the city.

DOCTORS PROTEST Against MIXOPATHY

The allopathy doctors, led by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), held a statewide protest against the permission for Ayurveda doctors to perform surgeries. The doctors boycotted duty other than emergency work. The IMA has said that the permission would put the lives of the patients at risk, as Ayurveda doctors are not trained to perform surgeries in their undergraduate courses.

The IMA also demanded the withdrawal of the Central Commission of Indian Medicine (CCIM) notification which makes the training of the Ayurveda post graduates to perform 58 surgeries mandatory.

The IMA has ridiculed the notification and termed it as taking the medical expertise in the country for a ride. The gains made in modern medicine could witness a severe setback, the protesting doctors have said. See More

COVID-19: FRESH INFECTIONS CONTINUE TO DROP

The number of fresh COVID-19 cases continued to drop in the state. The total infections increased to 7,96,475 with 11,870 casualties till December 11. The discharges too are, on a rise with 7,74,306 recoveries so far and 10,299 active cases.

The cases in the GCC increased to 2,19,168 with 3,904 casualties. The number of infections in Coimbatore district increased to 50,196. Nine districts recorded single digit fresh cases, while five districts have less than 100 active cases till December 11.

The positivity rate has come down to 1.77% in the months of November and December, said the health minister. The state has been continuing with around 70,000 RT-PCR tests per day, said the minister.

GREEN CORRIDOR JUDGEMENT RAISE APPREHENSION

The Supreme Court on December 8, much to the dismay of the farmers in the western districts of the state, upheld the land acquisition notification for the 8-lane Chennai-Salem Green Corridor project after the appeal of the landowners was dismissed by the apex court.

The NHAI had filed an appeal against the Madras High Court order quashing the notification, after the SC had refused to vacate the stay earlier. The judgement said, “The impugned judgment and order is modified. The challenge to impugned notifications under Sections 2(2) and 3A of the 1956 Act, respectively, is negative. The Central Government and/or NHAI may proceed further in the matter in accordance with law for acquisition of notified lands for construction of a national highway for the proposed section/stretch.”

The AIKS expressed disappointment over the judgement as several hectares of fertile land are set to be acquired for the ‘Bharatmala project’.

RAJINIKANTH: IDEOLOGICALLY CLOSER TO BJP?

Actor Rajinikanth has finally taken the political plunge, with him deciding to announce the political party on December 31. He made this announcement on December 3 and introduced two key members of his team in a press meet soon after.

The party is set to contest in the Assembly elections scheduled in May 2021, he added. By doing so, the actor has given a new lease of hope to the BJP, which has been persuading him to take the plunge after the death of two political stalwarts of the state, J Jayalalitha and M Karunanidhi.

On December 3, the actor announced his intentions of pursuing a ‘secular, spiritual politics’. Almost three years earlier, on December 31, 2017, the super star had coined a news term, ‘spiritual politics’, the first time when he made a concrete announcement about his political intentions.

The actor has, on many occasions, downplayed the peoples’ struggles and stood in favour of the ruling dispensation. He has also shown his aversion to the rightful struggles of different sections of the society. The announcement of the nationwide bandh by the farmers, too, did not evoke a response from him. Read More