TN this Week: Stricter Lockdown after Jump in COVID-19 Cases; Farmers Join Delhi Protest

President Ram Nath Kovind was on a five-day visit to Tamil Nadu this week. He reached Chennai on August 2 and attended the commemoration of the 100th year of the Madras Legislative Council, where he unveiled a portrait of former CM M Karunanidhi.

Currently, the state is witnessing a marginal jump in COVID-19 cases. Nearly 2,000 persons tested positive for the virus each day this week. Tamil Nadu recorded 1,985 positive cases and 30 deaths on Friday.

Approximately 18 districts have reported an increase in R-value or the average number of people who will contract a contagious disease from one person. Epidemiologists say that it is a cause for concern.

Thousands of farmers from Tamil Nadu headed to Delhi this week to participate in the ongoing farmers’ protest. 

NewsClick brings a round up of the happenings in the state this week.

TN FARMERS HEAD TO DELHI

Under the leadership of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), more than 1,000 farmers from Tamil Nadu reached Delhi on August 5 to participate in the ongoing farmers’ struggle against three central farm laws. They extended solidarity to the farmers who have been camping on the outskirts of Delhi for nine long months opposing the farm laws that they say will adversely affecting the agriculture sector.

Members of the railway employees union, insurance employees union, All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), and the merchants’ and traders’ association extended support to the farmers in the send-off function held in Chennai on August 3. 

More than 100 sugarcane farmers part of troop

P Shanmugam, the AIKS Tamil Nadu Secretary, said on August 3 that “the protesting farmers in Delhi have been upholding the struggle as more important than their own lives, a section of the Tamil Nadu farmers' brigade is off to Delhi to extend support to them”.

COVID-19: STATE PREPS FOR ANOTHER WAVE

Tamil Nadu government is gearing up to face the next possible COVID-19 wave. It has shut off many places that attract crowds, like temples and markets. The state has also increased its oxygen production and storage capacity.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday, August 7, announced that the COVID-19 lockdown will be extended in the state for another two weeks till August 23. However, after expert consultation, the government has decided to re-open schools for students of classes 9 to 12 with 50% seating capacity from September 1.

So far, 2.36 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been doled out by the Union government to Tami Nadu, and more than 2.2 crore people are vaccinated. Read more

‘OPEN GOVT VACCINE PRODUCTION UNITS’

Members of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) staged a protest in Chennai on August 4 demanding the Union government to expand COVID-19 vaccine production to public sector units in the country.

Image courtesy: DYFI, Tamil Nadu. DYFI protest in Chennai

“The priority of the government must be to save people’s lives in the pandemic, for that vaccine production has to increase. If the existing 11 public sector vaccine production units are put to use, that is possible,” reads the DYFI statement.

UNITED INDIA INSURANCE PROTEST

Employees of the four general insurance companies in India held a strike on August 4 opposing the recent amendments to the General Insurance Business Nationalisation Act (GIBNA) passed in the Lok Sabha.

The insurance employees’ trade unions state that these amendments pave the way for the complete privatisation of the sector and accompany job losses. Read more

BULLOCK-CART WORKERS’ PROTEST

Bullock-cart workers staged a protest in front of the Aranthangi sub-collector office in Pudukkottai district on July 30 demanding the setting up of a quarry for extracting sand. A committee in this regard was promised by the government, but it is yet to be established. Condemning the delay, bullock-cart workers participated in the demonstration.

Image courtesy: CITU, Tamil Nadu. Bullock-cart workers demand sand quarry

SLOKAS IN TAMIL IN TEMPLES

Archanai (slokas) will be chanted in Tamil in 47 major temples in Tamil Nadu as per the ‘Annai Thamizhil Archanai’ scheme, which was inaugurated by the Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments on August 5. It has been the practice to chant slokas in Sanskrit, a language considered Brahmanical and unknown to the masses.

In another move, the Tamil Nadu Textbook Corporation has decided to remove caste surnames of important personalities from school textbooks.