Date:27/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/27/stories/2008082751270300.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Club in the forefront of village growth

G. Nagaraja

A team of officials visits a remote village and listens to people’s grievances

ACTION PLEASE: A farmer petitions Collector G. Jayalakshmi at a meeting in Allipalli of West Godavari district on Tuesday.

ALLIPALLI (WEST GODAVARI DISTRICT): For a remote village like Chintalapudi , bringing the district top brass to its doorstep is a dream. The dream came true on Tuesday when district Collector G. Jayalakkshmi and a battery of officials took a break from their busy schedule to land here, spend time and be heard by the locals. It happened not because of any VIP presence but due to a low-profile apolitical peasant body called the Farm Information Exchange Club.

Role of a catalyst

The club has been the catalyst in bridging the ryot-official gap by providing an outlet for farmers to air their grievances with the officials concerned and even bankers. Those present at the programme included G. Veeraprasad, Assistant General Manager, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Lead District Manager K. Shankar Rao, M. Jyothi, Project Director, District Rural Development Agency and officials from the Horticulture, Animal Husbandry and revenue departments, besides officials from the Syndicate Bank. The issues that figured at the marathon session pertained to power supply for agriculture, oil palm, mango crop, drip irrigation, livestock and disbursal of loans by the bankers. The Collector sat through the meeting , lending a patient ear .

Helping hand

When Vijayanarayana, regional manager, Syndicate Bank, expressed his helplessness to speed up the process of loan disbursal for want of staff, the club president Ramaraju offered to help towards for completion of documentation. The club made a similar gesture earlier by installing a generator at the bank for a hassle-free work environment during power cuts.

Mr. Veera Prasad said the club played an active part in helping the bank identify borrowers and the recovery of loans. The club also chips in by helping the officials on their transfer and retirement in recognition of the services rendered in the area during their term.

Mr. Ramaraju said the club took the lead in organising awareness camps on cultivation of paddy, sugar cane, cotton and coconut and health camps for both humans and livestock, involving the personnel from the Medical and Health department and the Department of Horticulture in the current year. The Collector asked the club members to take an active role in transfer of technology from lab to the land.