Angul, May 31: After schoolteachers, village-level workers, the lowest level government employees in villages, would now have a dress code.

Recently-inducted agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy wants the 3,000 odd multi-purpose government employees to wear black trousers and blue shirts.

The minister also wants every farmers in the state to have an identity card. Maharathy’s department was considering the modalities to issue such cards to the farmers.

Maharathy was here to interact with district officials at the krushi office.

He also met farmers from the area and listened to their grievances.

Earlier during the day, he had done a similar exercise with the farmers in Dhenkanal. He was accompanied by the agricultural secretary Rangalal Jamuda, director R.S. Gopalan and other senior officials of the department.

The farmers discussed issues such as, crop loss due to elephants, utilisation of ground water, irrigation problems, subsidised loan, compensation for crop loss due to unseasonal rain, supply of timely and subsidised seeds and crop insurance with the minister.

Responding to the demands made by farmers, the minister said the government would facilitate setting up cold storages in both the districts in private public partnership.

“Our government has laid emphasis on agriculture and farmers. The problems and difficulties of farmers will be sympathetically looked into,” he said addressing the farmers and district officials here in the meeting.

“My aim is to tour the entire state to take stock of distressed paddy sale, crop loss due to untimely rain and the payment of proper compensation to farmers and other issues relating to farmers,” he said.

Collector Girish S.N. was present at the programme held in Dhenkanal while assistant district magistrate D. Senapati attended the Angul meeting.