Tamil Nadu

No opportunity to interact with officials, farmers lament

— Photo: M. Balaji

Voicing their grievances: Farmers representing their demands to the Revenue Divisional Officer, P. Murugesh, at a farmers grievance redressal day meeting in Tirupur on Friday.

Tirupur: The “non-availability” of agriculture department officials for timely technical assistance at the field level and illegal drawing of water from irrigation tanks were the main issues discussed at the farmers’ grievance day meeting convened by Revenue Divisional Officer P. Murugesh here on Friday.

C. K. Natarajan, co-ordinator of Uzhavar Aaivu Manram, complained that the officials from agriculture department had not been visiting the farms in Vijayapuram village for many months despite repeated requests from farmers seeking professional help to assess the nutrient levels in the soil and increase the productivity of crops like coconut and maize. “Earlier, field officials of the department used to conduct field visits at least once in a fortnight,” he pointed out. Similar accusations were raised by farmers hailing from Mudalipalayam and Nallur villages too.

According to them, lack of opportunity to interact with the officials has been preventing them from knowing the salient features of farmer-friendly schemes and financial packages introduced by the State Government periodically.

They requested the RDO to redress the grievance immediately as many farmers have missed the deadline for submitting applications for insurance cover offered under National Agriculture Insurance Scheme to their crops during the kharif season owing to “communication gaps”.

N. Ponnusamy, a farmer from Karaipudur panchayat, urged the revenue administration to take steps to prevent tanker lorry operators from illegally drawing water meant for agriculture purposes. “They have been taking water from the six irrigation tanks situated at Nochipalayam, Avarapalayam and Kuppichipalayam hamlets for supply to dyeing units in Tirupur, against a court order,” he told the RDO.

G. Malaravan, Coimbatore district secretary of the Tamil Nadu State Vyavasaigal Sangam, wanted the RDO to improve hygiene on the Government High School premises at Jallipatti village, where children of farming community were enrolled in large numbers.

RDO Murugesh assured the farmers that their complaints would look into the matters.

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