TIRUCHY: Demanding withdrawal of the new regulations announced by RBI for gold loans, the farmers staged a walkout from the grievances redressal meeting in Thanjavur and held a protest stressing their demands on Friday.

The farmers' grievances redressal meeting chaired by the district collector B Priyanka Pankajam witnessed most of the farmers raise concerns about RBI’s new regulation on gold loans.

Stating that the new norms have been targeted only at the poor and the farmers, they walked out of the meeting hall and staged a protest. They demanded the RBI withdraw the new regulations and warned of intensifying the protest across the region.

After raising slogans against RBI and the union government, they walked into the meeting hall and took part in the meeting in which Veerasenan, a farmer leader, highlighted that the coconut crops in Pattukkottai and Peravurani are affected by diseases. Currently, there are around 13 varieties of pests attacking the coconut trees and the horticulture department officials should convene a meeting with the coconut research institute officials to solve the issue.

AK Ravichandar, a farmer, urged the state government to recommend the union government withdraw the RBI regulations on gold loans.

Meanwhile, another farmer Mohammed Ibrahim highlighted that crops like paddy, cotton, banana, and betel leaves were damaged by wild boar at Pandaravadai, Rajagiri, Neduntheru, and Vizhuthur in the Papanasam area. Though the farmers had submitted a petition during the Jamabandi, no step has so far been initiated, he added. He demanded immediate action on the petitions submitted by the farmers.