Farmers have urged the government to directly take care of the crop insurance scheme as they did not get any benefits from the private insurance firms despite paying the premium, they said.

At the farmers’ grievances redress meeting held on Friday at the Madurai Collectorate, the farmers told Collector M. S. Sangeetha that the government instead of involving private insurance firms, should start its own insurance company for the benefit of the farmers.

The farmers complained that influential people were involved in indiscriminate mining of gravel sand. They said that it was taking place near Usilampatti and sought appropriate action. The Collector told the officials to monitor and take action against those involved in the indiscriminate mining.

Complaints were also raised by the farmers with regard to stray cattle menace. The Collector told the officials to impound the stray cattle and impose a fine on the cattle owners.

The farmers opposed the proposed stone quarrying operations in Viralipatti in Vadipatti in Madurai district. They also urged the authorities to carry out a study on the classification of ayacut areas in order to determine water requirements for these areas.

Issues of encroachments and sewage getting mixed into the irrigation channels were also highlighted at the meeting. The farmers told the officials about sewage getting mixed into a water channel in Alanganallur. They said that despite repeated complaints no action was being taken. The farmers complained about encroachment on waterbodies. They said that commercial establishments had come up in the encroached area.

The farmers complained that some officials were not attending the taluk level grievance meetings. The officials were instructed to attend the taluk level meetings.

Source - The Hindu