Chennai, Jan 1 (AHN) PMK President Anbumani Ramadoss urged the Tamil Nadu government to directly procure sugarcane from farmers and distribute two canes per family as part of the Pongal gift hamper, warning that delays and unclear policies were pushing cultivators into distress.

In a statement on Thursday, Anbumani said that with barely two weeks left for the Pongal festival, the government was yet to announce clear details about the gift package or confirm whether sugarcane would be included.

This uncertainty, he said, had created anxiety among farmers who had cultivated paneer karumbu (or SengKarumbu) expecting assured procurement by the state.

Highlighting the financial strain on cultivators, Anbumani said the cost of growing sugarcane had risen to nearly Rs 2.25 lakh per acre, covering planting, maintenance, harvesting and labour. However, farmers were being paid only Rs 18 to Rs 19 per cane, even though the official procurement price stood at Rs 35.

He alleged that middlemen were exploiting farmers by taking a share of the produce and charging high transport and handling costs, leaving cultivators with little or no profit.

The PMK leader also criticised what he termed as impractical procurement norms, particularly the requirement that only sugarcane longer than seven feet would be accepted. Such conditions, he said, result in the rejection of large quantities of produce.

Distributing only one sugarcane per family, he added, goes against tradition and reduces demand, further affecting farmers’ incomes. Anbumani pointed out that the area under sugarcane cultivation in Tamil Nadu has been shrinking steadily over the past few years due to recurring losses. To reverse this trend, he urged the government to fix the procurement price at Rs 50 per cane, eliminate middlemen, and ensure the supply of two sugarcanes per ration card as part of the Pongal package.

In a separate statement, he also expressed concern over growing law and order issues, referring to a recent violent attack on a migrant worker at Tiruttani railway station.

The incident, he said, highlighted the rising menace of drug abuse and alcohol-related violence in the state.

Meanwhile, CPI(M) state secretary P. Shanmugam also called on the government to strengthen the Pongal gift scheme by including one kilogram of jaggery along with rice and sugar. He stressed that direct procurement from farmers would not only support cultivators but also uphold the spirit of the harvest festival.