BHUBANESWAR: Leaders of Krushak Morcha of the State BJP will march to the Secretariat on Monday to lodge their protest against the delay in payment of compensation to farmers for crop loss.
Announcing this here on Sunday, State BJP general secretary Prithiviraj Harichandan said the State Government has failed to keep its promise to complete crop loss assessment by November 25. Farmers, who sustained crop loss due to scanty rainfall, pest attack and unseasonal rains, are in dire straits and badly need government assistance to tide over the situation.
Alleging that the field staff of the Government are yet to visit affected areas for assessment of crop loss, Harichandan said the distressed farmers are becoming increasingly impatient assuming that the aid from the Government will come too late. While the number of farmers suicide is increasing, further delay in payment of compensation will aggravate the situation for which the State Government will be responsible, he cautioned.
While a majority of the farmers are sharecroppers and the State Government has not initiated the process for their identification, Harichandan said there is every possibility that the actual cultivators will not get compensation for their crop loss.
The BJP strongly opposed the Government’s decision to identify sharecroppers through sarpanches as the move is aimed at selecting the beneficiaries on party line. This has happened in the past and the saffron party will not allow the Government to repeat the same mistake again, he said.
The Krushak Morcha activists will march to the Secretariat to submit a memorandum to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik demanding payment of compensation for crop loss in a time-bound manner, Harichandan said.