Centre's attitude upsets tobacco growers

Tobacco farmers in the district feel let down as their plea for cyclone relief has fallen on deaf ears. Their angst is understandable as they paid Rs 100 crore to the Tobacco Board as cess. The farmers had sought disbursal of a part of the cess on relief for some of the worst-hit tobacco farmers.

But the Centre seems to have shot down the idea. The recent heavy rains damaged tobacco crop in 31,830 hectares out of the 73,529 hectares in which tobacco has been raised in the state.

While, the board puts the crop loss at 15 per cent of the total crop, farmers say it is about 25 per cent. In a further blow to farmers, the rains destroyed 756 curing barns completely and 1,106 partially. Curing barns play a major role after harvesting.

According to Y Sivaji, president of Virginia Tobacco Growers' Association, tobacco occupied top slot on the list of export of cash crops (97,809 tonnes, valued at Rs 774.08 crore) in 2005-06 (April-October). But not a single rupee had been sanctioned as loan, help or relief to bail out tobacco farmers.

Speaking to Business Standard, he said the cess the farmers paid to the board had accumulated to Rs 100 crore.

"If the government does not want to help tobacco growers whose crop and barns were damaged, it can at least release a part of this amount immediately as relief, " he said.

He said the commerce minister recently released Rs 35 crore to help coffee growers. The Coffee Board, on its part, wrote off Rs 64 crore loans given to small growers. Similarly, the government provided Rs 70.93 crore to the Tea Board last year.

This year, the Centre has so far released a major portion of the promised Rs 87 crore aid to the Rubber Board, which was the beneficiary of a generous Rs 80.60 crore relief from the Centre in 2004-05 fiscal. It has till date given Rs 66.50 crore to the Coffee Board this year as against last year's Rs 59 crore.

The Spices Board's is another example of Centre's generous help. It received up to Rs 27 crore as aid package.

Sivaji said the boards of all other commodities, except tobacco, received, in all, Rs 466.86 crore since 2004-05. During the same period, under Price Stabilisation Fund, these boards happily knocked away Rs 285 crore. Under the plantation programme, the government paid the tea segment Rs 154 crore since last year.

Besides, a sum of Rs 243 crore had been released to develop infrastructure for tea, rubber, coffee, and spices, in addition to a massive Rs 540 crore in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 plan outlays for export promotion of these cash crops.

The tobacco sector had lacked budget support, or relief packages, export or plantation promotion programmes since the inception of the Tobacco Board. Instead, every year taxes on tobacco increased and farmers were denied remunerative prices, he alleged.