Chennai: Tamil Nadu government has asked the Centre to allot two lakh tonnes of rice to feed the farmers whose crops had been lost due to poor monsoon, Rs 400 crore as special package to pay cash compensation to lakhs of farmers, and direct Karnataka to release "the rightful share of water" in terms of the interim award of the Cauvery Tribunal.

A six-page statement, quoting Jayalalitha, said these points were stressed when she met Prime Minister A B Vajpayee, in New Delhi on January 13.

Jayalalithaa said the state had already suffered a loss of Rs 1,080 crore because of the reduction in the cultivable area of 'Kuruvai' (short-term paddy) and 'samba' (long-term paddy) in the delta areas.

"Today, we are threatened with a further loss of about Rs 1,280 crore, if we lose the standing samba crop as well, which will mean a total loss of Rs.2360 crore," she said.

She suggested to the Prime Minister that the farmers be given a concession by way of waiver of the current year's principal of the medium term loan. Farmers who had taken short-term loans alone for the current year, should be allowed waiver of the principal.

These "short term palliatives" would only mitigate the hardships and distress of the delta farmers temporarily, she said and stressed that the long-term solutions would be in ensuring that Karnataka released to Tamil Nadu its rightful share of water in terms of the interim award of the tribunal, Jayalalithaa said.

PTI