Ending the month-long signature campaign, the district unit of the Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam on Tuesday presented the signatures obtained from farmers in the district, protesting against the Centre’s Land Acquisition Bill to the Collector to be forwarded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
After addressing the members of the sangam and farmers in the district at the entrance of the Collectorate here, a five-member delegation, led by P.K. Murugesan, district president of the sangam, presented 110 forms, comprising signatures of 3,300 farmers, to the Collector’s Personal Assistant.
The delegation requested the district administration to forward the forms to the Prime Minister, M. Muthuramu, district secretary of the sangam, said.
The farmers, who took part in the campaign, expressed their anguish over the proposed Act, which paved way for acquiring their cultivable lands without their consent, he said.
After launching the signature campaign on June 1 as part of the State-wide campaign, sangam office-bearers obtained signatures of farmers by visiting the branch offices in villages and conducted mass campaigns at Aranmanai at the district headquarters on June 21 and at Tiruvadanai, the next day, he said.
Addressing the farmers, Sivaji, district secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), said the Bill should not be allowed to be passed in the Parliament as it would spell doom to thousands of farmers in the country.
Pledging support to the farmers, he said the CITU would back the sangam whenever it launched an agitation against the Bill.
Addressing the farmers, Mr. Muthuramu said the Centre should withdraw the Land Acquisition Bill as it would turn farmers into beggars.
Lands were the only hope for the farmers and if their lands were acquired even without their consent, they would be robbed of their livelihood, he said.
The sangam would step up the agitation if the Centre did not relent and withdraw the Bill, he added.
