Farmers stage a protest at Melur in Madurai on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: R, ASHOK
More than 300 farmers on Wednesday staged a protest at Melur in the district, urging the Tamil Nadu government to completely waive cooperative agricultural loans without any conditions.The protest, organised by the Pennicuick Periyar Single Crop Farmers Association, saw more than 300 farmers from Melur and surrounding villages participating.They demanded that the pending cooperative loans be completely cancelled without any conditions in order to reduce the economic burden on farmers. The government must take immediate action to protect the livelihood of farmers, they said.Association president Kurinji Kumaran said the agriculture sector received an allocation of around ₹45,000 crore in the budget, but farmers were still struggling under the burden of loans taken over the last four years. There must be a complete waiver of the loans, as the farmers were being forced to pay them back along with heavy penalty amounts.He urged the Tamil Nadu government to allocate ₹16,000-₹18,000 crore for the waiver in the upcoming agriculture budget session, adding that the constituency’s Minister P. Viswanathan must pressure the government to fulfill the demand.The association warned that if the State government failed to take appropriate action, the farmers would mobilise larger-scale protests across the region.Members of various political parties, including DMK, AIADMK and AMMK, also participated in the protest and expressed their support for the farmers. Published - July 08, 2026 08:31 pm IST
