Trichy: Hundreds of farmers staged a protest in Trichy on Tuesday demanding a complete waiver of crop loans, following which ministers and officials assured them that their demands would be examined and placed before chief minister Joseph Vijay.Farmers belonging to various associations gathered near Samayapuram and staged the protest while holding palm leaves. They expressed dissatisfaction with the crop loan waivers announced by the state government and urged the TVK government to fulfil its election promise.Later, representatives of farmers’ associations held a meeting with ministers and officials at the Trichy District Collectorate. The meeting was attended by HR&CE minister S Ramesh, cooperative minister V Gandhiraj, agriculture minister R Vinoth and assembly deputy speaker M Ravisankar.The farmers raised concerns over the differential waivers announced by the government and demanded a complete waiver, citing income losses suffered during recent cultivation seasons.The ministers outlined steps being taken by the government to improve farmers’ livelihoods and protect their welfare. They said the farmers’ demands would be examined and brought to the notice of the chief minister. They also said a committee would soon be formed to study the demands.Trichy district collector Pratik Tayal, registrar of cooperative societies G Latha, director of agriculture K V Muralidharan, and MLAs R Kathiravan (Manapparai), S Viji (Thiruverumbur) and M Vignesh (Musiri) were also present.