MADURAI
Complaining that they were unable to get crop loans, a majority of the farmers took it up with the Collector at the monthly grievance redressal meeting held at the Collectorate here on Friday.
Presiding over, Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao said that he would take it up with the bankers at the review meeting.
Despite his assurance, the farmers, mostly sugarcane growers from the Alanganallur block and Usilampatti block, claimed that some banks even belittled them saying they could not even repay one EMI.
Pacifying them to take their seats, the Collector directed the District Lead Manager to convene a meeting soon and ensure that the grievance was redressed.
Only a few farmers said that they had received loans from Cooperative Bank/Societies.
The sugarcane growers’ association representatives said that the sugar mills in the district were yet to clear arrears of ₹7 crore due to farmers.
At a time, when many casual workers were unemployed due to very many reasons, such non-release of arrears to the sugarcane growers for over four years had forced many into mental agony and urged the district administration to intervene.
Pleading repeatedly to evict encroachments from canals and public tanks, the farmers blamed the PWD engineers for ‘lackadaisical’ attitude.
An organic farmer Sadayandi from Perayur block said that a majority of the farmers growing minor millets among others depended on oorani water for irrigation.
The need of the hour was to recharge all the 45 ooranis at the earliest and clean up encroachments, which alone would enable farmers to cultivate in future. Likewise, farmers from the Tirupparankundram block too appealed to remove encroachments.
At this juncture, the farmers from Madurai north block alleged that a 15-cent land near Mattuthavani worth ₹ 20 crore, which belonged to the PWD, has been encroached upon by a private hotelier.
Despite repeated pleas, action to evict the encroacher had not been done, they said.
Immediately, the Collector ordered the officials from Survey Department and the PWD officials to check and file a report within three weeks.
When a section of farmers submitted petitions that they were unable to get electricity connections from TANGEDCO, the Collector directed the officials to look into the issue.
The Collector gave away subsidy cheques to farmers’ to purchase tractors.
DRO R. Gunalan, JD in-charge (Agriculture), Muruganandam, PA (Agriculture), Muthamma, and others participated.
