Even while the district authorities claimed that steps have been taken to assess the crop loss due to the recurring drought accurately, the representatives of the farming community at the farmers’ grievances redressal day meeting held on Friday complained that the officials were not evincing keen interest in assessing the loss and have not visited many affected villages. The District Collector said that specialised training was imparted to officials of different departments at the block level, division level and district level to assess the crop loss suffered by the farmers. Specific instructions have been given to them that no affected farmer should be left out in the process. He said that the pictures of the affected crops and fields were captured and instantly uploaded using Bhuvan App. This is done mainly to ensure accuracy and avoid delay. Of the normal rainfall of 993.9 mm, the district received only 521.6 mm rainfall during last year, which led to serious drought. P. Soundararajan, Joint Director of Agriculture, said that of the 643 villages assessed by the special teams, 572 were found to be drought-hit. Soon a host of farmers complained that officials have not visited many of the seriously affected villages. Even the VAOs have not visited the affected villages, they alleged adding that the officials were preparing the loss report based on the details of the previous years. They said that the entire district is reeling under severe drought conditions and the government should take steps for the provision of compensation to all the affected farmers. Two women of Attur Kattukottai and Kanthanur Thekkadu, near Mettur, respectively complained that some persons posing as government officials extracted money from them assuring adequate compensation to their families following the untimely demise of the breadwinners due to crop loss. Mr. Sampath directed the police to enquire into the complaints and take proper action. He also warned the officials against indulging in such illegal activities with stringent action. The farmers were informed that the Animal Husbandry Department is setting up fodder godowns in 37 centres in the district. The animal husbandry department has identified nine centres for holding jallikattu, 171 spots for holding eruthattam etc in the district. A report in this regard has already been submitted to the government. Source - http://www.thehindu.com