Farmers led by A. Varatharajan of Karisal Bhoomi Farmers Association demanded that special camps be held for farmers to remedy deficiencies in the submission of required documents for receiving crop insurance for 2018-19.
At the weekly grievance day meeting at the Collectorate here on Monday, they said many farmers, who were illiterate, could miss out on messages being sent to mobile numbers registered for crop insurance in case their documents were inadequate. “Many of them had also given the phone numbers of relatives, and may not even receive the message,” they said, adding that farmers may not receive their crop insurance at all if the message goes unnoticed.
In order to address the issue, they said that the data on such farmers be consolidated, and special camps be conducted to remedy the deficiencies.
R.S. Ramesh, district secretary of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), demanded that grievance meetings for farmers, fishers and LPG consumers be conducted as usual during the Jamabandi period. “During this period in the past grievance meetings were cancelled, which deprived people to voice their problems,” he said. After the model code of conduct came into force, the meetings have not been held for several months, he recalled.
Residents of Azhagapuram panchayat in Sattankulam union submitted a petition demanding that the residential areas be untouched for setting up of rocket launch pad at Kulasekarapattinam, which is being demanded by politicians. “On May 27, around 20 persons led by Sattankulam Tahsildar had come to survey lands,” they said, following which the people had expressed opposition against the survey out of fear of losing their homes. After talks with officials, they were allowed to survey the land on May 29 following assurances that the survey would not affect their homes, they added.
Residents of Allikulam village in Andal Nagar, staged a demonstration with empty cans seeking proper supply of water. “We only have a small overhead tank in the area, and the water supply can fill only 3-4 cans. So we have to pay private vendors for water,” they said.