As farmers die in Kuttanad, parties slug it out

In Thiruvananthapuram, meanwhile, Chief minister V S Achuthanandan announced that his Government would write off debts of all Kuttanad farmers who have killed themselves in desperation over the past two weeks, and give their kin Rs 50,000 each.

That, however, may not bring much consolation to this area, once Kerala’s rice bowl. About Rs 40 crore worth of paddy is still under threat of destruction in Kuttanad fields, apart from some 30,000 hectares of paddy awaiting harvest that last fortnight’s summer showers laid to waste.

The Opposition has been blaming the CPI(M)’s powerful farm union, the Kerala State Karshaka Thozhilali Union (KSKTU), for refusing to allow local farmers to use harvesting machines in time to reap their crop before the rains leading to the enormous loss. In Kuttanad, no farmer would dare to use the far cheaper and more efficient farm machines instead of the unionised manual labour, without applying and procuring the KSKTU’s sanction to do so — paying it a ‘fee’ for each acre that the machines are allowed on.

The CPI(M) and other Left parties, however, blame the unexpectedly heavy showers for the crisis.

Achuthanandan also said on Wednesday the Government would procure even destroyed paddy unfit for human consumption that the Kuttanad farmers manage to save, to help them through the crisis. He, however, declined to announce the Government’s procurement price for the paddy that the Government cannot hope to process and sell through ration shops.