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Thiruvananthapuram: After Kerala's ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) crossed swords over the plight of paddy farmers in the state's rice bowl, Kuttanad, the state cabinet yesterday decided to send a delegation to New Delhi to plead for the farmers.
Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said yesterday the all-party team would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and submit a memorandum seeking relief for farmers whose crops were destroyed after heavy unseasonal rains over the past few weeks.
A preliminary report suggests that paddy crops over a 30,000-hectare area may have been destroyed in the rains, worth nearly 4 billion rupees (Dh367.3 million).
The cabinet decided to write off the loans of two farmers who committed suicide distressed by their crop losses and the loans of two others who died in rain-related incidents.
Arguing over machines
The ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist-led LDF and the opposition Congress-led UDF have been heaping scorn on each other over the crisis in Kuttanad. Opposition leader Oommen Chandy said the Left government's disregard for harvesting and threshing machines was to blame.
Many farmers too endorsed the view, stating that their crops could have been saved if the machines were freely used.
Several paddies were witness to the sight of family members joining harvesting efforts in a bid to salvage crops amid a telling shortage of farm hands and the dictats on use of machines.
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