CHENNAI: In a significant move, the State government on Wednesday eased the norms for getting permission to avail soil, silt and clay.

According to the statement issued by the state government, Chief Minister MK Stalin has ordered to ease the norms for availing soil, silt and clay, following the requests from farmers.

As per the new norms, the farmers now obtain permission from Tahsildar through an online portal instead of VAO, followed by District Collector.

"Necessary amendments have been made in the mineral Act and a new procedure has been introduced so that the concerned local authorities can give permission to take soil, silt and clay free of charge for agricultural use and pot industry from culverts, ponds, lakes, reservoirs and canals maintained by the Public Works Department and Rural Development Department, " the release said.

Also, the new practice enables the farmers to take the required soil from any water body in their circle of residence.

"This move will increase the capacity of water bodies in the state and save more rainwater, " the release noted.

Earlier in the day, Stalin launched the 'Chief Minister's Mannuyir Kaathu Mannuyir Kappom' scheme, to provide 4,000 my green manure seeds to the farmers with a func allocation of Rs 20 crore to plant green manure on 2 lakh acres and has provided rotavators and tractors to train rural youth in agricultural mechanism.