Officials have been ticked of for their unsatisfactory response to farmers’ grievances.
Collector L. Subramanian on Friday chided officials of the agriculture, revenue, highways and mines and minerals departments for their perceived indifference to representations submitted at the farmers’ grievance meeting last month.
Farmers gathered at the Collectorate complained that district and Corporation officials ignored their petitions. Jaisingh Gnanadurai, Joint Director (Agriculture), said 89 representations were received last month, but officials replied to just 57.
Officers who failed to respond to the representations included Assistant Director (Survey), Assistant Director (Mines), Divisional Engineer (Highways Department), Joint Director (Animal Husbandry), Revenue Divisional Officer (Usilampatti) and Tahsildar (Vadipatti).
A farmer pointed out that no official action was forthcoming even after several months had elapsed.
The collector assured farmers that grievances of the previous month would be reviewed at each meeting.
He agreed with the farmers’ demand that crop loan distribution should be completed within a timeframe rather than prolonging it until the time of harvest. He also promised to look into other grievances such as blockage of irrigation channels, lack of good roads and so on.
Most farmers accused the nationalised banks of distributing agriculture loans to ‘bogus farmers’ without verifying their credentials. They insisted that the district administration should form committees to check if the loans had been utilised properly.
