BHOPAL : Chauhan’s one-to-one meetings with the officers, who had visited the rural areas for three days, continued on the second day on Friday. He interacted with as many as 50 officers. These officers narrated the problems of villages and villagers to Chauhan.
They told Chauhan that lower-level staff in districts was not working properly. The officers told him about problems related to agriculture, electricity supply and revenue matters.
Chauhan sought suggestions from the officers to improve the situation. The officers were of the view that it is important to bring transparency in implementation of government schemes and raising awareness.
Farmers should be made aware so that they can ensure that they get benefits of the schemes and programmes launched by the government for them. The officers also told Chauhan about the middlemen conning farmers.
He was also told about the failure of the field officers of Agriculture Department in providing feedback on the damage to Soya crop.
Give proper, timely advice to farmers
As many as five groups of officers, who had come back from tour, were made. The issue of lack of governance at ground level was raised during group discussion. It came to the fore that drinking water is a big problem in villages. Handpumps are not repaired for months. It was suggested that farmers should be given relief but they should also be given proper and timely advice. Farmers should also explore livelihood options other than agriculture. All members of the family should not be dependent on agriculture. Repayment of old loans has become a burden for the farmers. For the repayment of loans, one-time settlements should be initiated. Suggestions were given regarding ensuring transparency in Crop Insurance scheme. It also came to light that farmers are made to pay premium for crops and in case of loss, the premium is returned to them. Farmers should be protected from such manipulations.
