Covid-19 claimed yet another unsung hero of Tamil Nadu, Kattumannarkoil V Kannan late Saturday night. He was 72 and succumbed to the pandemic in a corporate hospital in Chennai. Hailing from Cuddalore district, Kannan, a postgraduate with degree in law took to farming from his young age and was the vice-president of Cauvery Delta Farmers Association.
His was a life dedicated to the farmers of Tamil Nadu. He had only one ambition in his life- to see the major rivers of the country inter linked through a network of canals so that no farmers anywhere in the country would be denied irrigation facilities even amidst draught. Kannan wrote a book “River Cauvery-The Most Battl(r)edâ€, which was release by Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit in May 2019. The Governor had reiterated the need to inter link the major Indian rivers so that the country would not see simultaneous floods and draught.
Kannan had distinct and unique ideas for regaining the status of farmers and farming. “We do not want any charity from the State or Central Governments. Make loans available to us at reduced rates of interest and ensure that the agriculture produces get minimum support price announced by the Government. Also allow us to sell the farm produce to the buyers of our choice. This together with the interlinking of rivers would make life easy for us,†Kannan said before he was quarantined early this month.
Kannan is survived by wife, a son and daughter. A great scholar of Tamil classics, Kannan would be missed badly by the farming community, according to Pon Radhakrishnan, former union minister who was a close friend of the farmers’ leader.
