A section of members of the Tiruchi district unit of the Tamizh Maanila Vivasaya Thozhilalar Sangam, affiliated to the Communist Party of India, staged a demonstration near the old Collectorate here on Tuesday in support of their demands.  The Sangam members demanded that ₹700 be paid as daily wages to the agricultural labourers.

They urged the Centre to ensure 200-day employment per year for the farm labourers. They demanded the withdrawal of the Viksit Bharat G- RAM G Act 2025 and the restoration of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The demonstration was led by the Sangam district secretary P. Ganesan.

Protest against Mekedatu

Meanwhile, a group of farmers owing allegiance to the Desiya Thennindhiya Nathigal Inaippu Vivasaya Sangam resorted to a novel protest by partially burying themselves under the sands of the Cauvery river bed here on Tuesday urging the Centre not to accord permission for constructing a balancing reservoir across Cauvery at Mekedatu in Karnataka.

The farmers led by the Sangam State president P. Ayyakannu condemned the Karnataka government’s proposed Mekedatu project.  The implementation of the Mekedatu project would adversely affect agricultural lands in Tamil Nadu and create acute drinking water shortage in several parts of the State, they said.