Chennai, Oct 18 (IANS) Tamil Nadu BJP President Nainar Nagenthran has lashed out at the ruling DMK government, accusing it of gross mismanagement and negligence in handling the paddy procurement process in Nagapattinam district.

In a strongly worded statement, Nagenthran alleged that the government’s lack of planning has left thousands of farmers struggling, as paddy procurement at direct purchase centres (DPCs) has been stalled for over 10 days.

“More than 15,000 sacks of paddy are reportedly piled up in various centres across the district, causing severe hardship to farmers. Officials citing storage issues to justify the delay is unacceptable,” he said.

The BJP leader said that it was the government’s duty to anticipate the seasonal conditions and act accordingly.

“The onset of the monsoon and the Deepavali festival were known well in advance. A responsible government should have completed paddy procurement and ensured prompt payment to farmers before the rains. Instead, the DMK’s inefficiency has resulted in harvested paddy being left to rot in the open,” he remarked.

Nagenthran also hit out at Chief Minister M.K. Stalin for what he called a “publicity-driven” approach that ignored the real concerns of farmers.

“The DMK government functions like an advertising model – all show, no substance. While it spends crores on publicity, it has failed to address the basic needs of the farming community,” he charged.

Referring to CM Stalin’s frequent portrayal of himself as a “son of the Delta”, the BJP leader said the Chief Minister must now prove that claim with action.

“If the title ‘Delta son’ means anything at all, he must immediately order war-footing procurement of paddy from farmers and safeguard their livelihood,” Nainar Nagenthran said.

He urged the government to deploy adequate staff and transport facilities to clear the “backlog” at DPCs without further delay, warning that “continued apathy” could worsen the distress among paddy farmers across the Delta region.

–IANS

aal/svn