S P Velumani petitions agriculture minister

COIMBATORE: Former municipal administration minister S P Velumani, who met Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar here on Friday, urged him to increase the copra procurement price to 150/ kg from 105.9.
Velumani requested the minister to fill the post of the chairman of the Coconut Development Board and implement a new insurance scheme for coconut farmers. He also sought 1,000 crore allocation for the board every year and 500 crore special fund for the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University to encourage research on agriculture products.
“Fertilizer prices are going up and need to be controlled. The schemes implemented by the Union government are not reaching the real beneficiaries, as it is allotted to the ruling party members,” he said.
In a petition, Velumani complained that the state government and the district administration are not implementing the Union government projects. “The funds allotted under the MGNREGA is not fully utilized by the state government. The district administration is not properly monitoring implementation of the scheme. Jal Jeevan Mission is not implemented in the right spirit. Smart city projects are purposefully delayed by the state government to create a bad impression.”