BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday slammed the State Government for the rising number of farmer suicides in Odisha. Launching a scathing attack on the ruling BJD, the Union Minister said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is responsible for the current crisis. As many as seven farmers have taken their lives in the last one week and this is the result of anti-farmers’ policy of the Government in the last 17 years. Describing the ruling BJD as a killer Government, Pradhan said, “Your (Naveen’s) Government is responsible for the farmers’ suicides as you have miserably failed to tackle the situation arising out of pest attack.”
Instead of taking responsibility, the State Government is making irresponsible statements, he said and added that his party will stand behind the farmers who are in distress and force the State Government to change its antifarmer policy. Coming down heavily on the Chief Minister for not keeping his promise to the farmers, Pradhan said the former announced in 2015 at Bargarh to provide a bonus of `100 per quintal of paddy over and above the minimum support price announced by the Centre. It has been more than two years but the Government is yet to provide the bonus to farmers, he added. Since agriculture is a state subject, the local Government should follow neighbouring Chhattisgarh which has been providing `300 per quintal of paddy as bonus.
While Madhya Pradesh has been providing a rebate of `10,000 to farmers on agricultural loan of `1 lakh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have announced loan waiver to small and marginal farmers. “Who stopped the State Government to take similar measures to provide relief to the distressed farmers,” he wondered. Responding to a query on Labour Minister Sushant Singh’s allegations against BJP, the Union Minister said this is a ploy to implicate his party leaders in the suicide case of Brundaban Sahu. Daring the State Government to take action against his party, Pradhan said BJP is ready to face it. The BJD cannot cow down the BJP by bringing false charges, he said.