RAMANATHAPURAM: Though the district administration has started distributing drought relief in the district with the collector saying the money will be distributed in the next 10 days, the farmers feel that it’s too late as the samba cultivation season has already started. The farmers have urged the district administration to speed up the distribution.
Bakkiyanathan, president of Tamil Nadu Vaigai Irrigation Farmers Association quoted the officials saying that the 11-block agriculture office will be distributing the relief in 10 days. “In past AIADMK reign, flood relief was distributed to farmers within a day with the help of student volunteers,” he said.
Ramanathapuram Collector Vishnu Chandran on Wednesday said Rs 132.71 crore have been sanctioned as drought relief for 1.34 lakh farmers in the district and that actions are being taken towards distributing the drought relief through block-level agriculture offices. Collector assured that within the next 10 days, drought relief will be provided to all the farmers in the district.
Bakkiyanathan also alleged that though all the documents were submitted after the enumeration process, still agriculture officers are asking the farmers to bring documents like Aadhaar, Patta and others. “It is said that in some areas, farmers are asked to purchase agriculture equipment from the block-level offices in order to get relief,” he said.
A senior official from the agriculture department claimed the allegations were false and said no farmer was forced to buy anything.