Rahul Gandhi, ever since becoming the MP from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala, has been paying special attention to the plight of the farmers in the region.In October, he made a visit to the paddy fields of Thirunelli Agro Produce Company and interacted with traditional farmers there. A video of his interaction with Cheruvayal Raman, noted indigenous paddy conservator, had gone viral.
Now, Gandhi has posted a fresh video featuring an elderly couple in Pulppally who still earn a living through farming. Mathew and Mary, the nonagenarian couple, had caught the Congress leader’s attention for their unbeatable passion for farming and agriculture. Gandhi shared the couple’s pictures and videos of them working in their farmland highlighting the woes and concerns of the farmers.
“The elderly farm couple Mary and Mathew from Pulpally, Wayanad have toiled on their land year after year. They share the pain, the anxieties and the difficulties of farmers across India. All Indians, and the government, must listen to them,” Gandhi wrote, tweeting the video.
In the video, the couple are heard lamenting fall in the price of their crops. They say it has become difficult for them to meet even the expenses for farming from their produce.
“When Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister we had got fair price for our products, but now the farmers of India are going through hardships.India has become unlivable for farmers now,” Mathew says in the video.
The elderly farmers' concerns reflect those of the thousands of farmers protesting in Delhi against the controversial farm bills.
Mathew and Mary like to spend most of their time in their farmland. It was in 1969 that Mathew had migrated to Pulpally in Wayanad from Kaduthuruthy in Kottayam. He had purchased three acres of land in Surabikavala using the money that he got after selling his land in Kottayam. The couple attributes their incredible health and vitality to their decades of hard work on their land.
The elderly farm couple Mary and Mathew from Pulpally, Wayanad have toiled on their land year after year. They share the pain, the anxieties and the difficulties of farmers across India.
Rahul Gandhi
This old couple grows tapioca, yam, colocasia and various kinds of vegetables in their land. Though they suffer from age-related problems, they like to forget it by tending to their farmland. Mathew and Mary expressed gratitude to Rahul Gandhi MP for realizing the value of their hard work and unique life style and highlighting their problems through social media.
