Nurses working under non-communicable diseases programme of the State Government did not want their services to be terminated. In their petition to the district administration on Monday, they said that around 2,000 of their ilk were working across Tamil Nadu for the past two-and-half years. They had learnt that the Government planned to terminate their services on September 15, 2015. If it did so, the job of identifying people with communicable diseases would come to a halt. The Government should retain their services or redeploy them against vacancies in primary health centres and other health establishments.
Plea to write off loans
Farmers affiliated to the Thondamuthur Catchment Association on Monday demanded district administration to write off agriculture loans advanced by nationalised banks. In their petition, the farmers said that at a time when over three lakh farmers had committed suicide across the country and the country had written off loans worth Rs. 31.11 thousand crore given to the corporate sector, the Central Government should help the farmers by writing off agriculture loans.
This was important to help the farmers, who were suffering worst drought in recent years.
The Government should also consult farmers’ associations in devising agriculture policy, present a separate budget for agriculture and introduce modern technology.
‘Act against drivers using air horn’
Aam Aadmi Party members in Coimbatore on Monday urged the district administration to act against drivers using air horns. In their petition, they said that though the Motor Vehicles Act has expressly prohibited the use of horns, two-wheelers, cars and buses had those horns and drivers were using those without any restriction. One of the reasons for the prevalent use was their easy availability.
The Collector should therefore direct the Transport Department staff and police to act against the drivers who used those and impose a very heavy fine.
The Collector should also ensure that government vehicles were fit with such horns. The party members also sought imposition of pollution control norms for transport corporation buses.
Beef consumers’ plea
Beef consumers on Monday urged the district administration to act against those who prevented the transport of cattle to Kerala and said that because of the people who were against slaughtering animals, they were unable to have easy access to beef. They wanted the State Government to permit transport of up to 30 animals in a lorry. They reasoned that by eating beef, the consumers could get strength and nutrition, which were otherwise deprived to them.
