Met farmers and brick workers in Tirunelveli who discussed low wages and dams not being opened on time#namakkunaame http://t.co/0lemQJK4je

Continuing his field-level interactions across Tirunelveli district during the first phase of Namakku Naame in September 2015, DMK Treasurer M. K. Stalin examined the acute operational hurdles disrupting rural livelihoods. Meeting with paddy and banana cultivators along the Thamirabarani river basin, Stalin listened to their frustration regarding the erratic and delayed opening of the Manimuthar and Papanasam reservoirs. Farmers explained that due to bureaucratic indecision and poor coordination by the Public Works Department, water was not released in accordance with the agricultural calendar, forcing sowing delays, withering standing crops, and escalating production expenses. Subsequently, Stalin visited rural brick kilns to interact with unorganized manual brickmakers. Workers described backbreaking physical labour under scorching heat for exploitative, stagnant piece-rate wages that failed to keep pace with escalating food inflation. They highlighted the complete absence of occupational health protections, clean drinking water, and welfare board educational scholarships for their children under the AIADMK administration. Stalin criticized the state government for its bureaucratic detachment and negligence. He pledged that a future DMK government would enforce fixed, predictable water release schedules from state reservoirs and revitalize unorganized labour welfare boards to ensure living wages, healthcare, and educational security for brick workers' families.