BHUBANESWAR: Opposition Congress is planning to take to the streets over the State Government’s failure to address the distress situation in agriculture sector which has led to the suicide of a farmer in Kalahandi district.
President of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Niranjan Patnaik said though thousands of crores of rupees have been spent in the irrigation sector over the years, it has failed to improve the condition of farmers as evident from reports of a large number of suicides committed by them.
Alleging that the State Government has ignored the farm sector by welcoming industries and mining companies to Odisha without putting proper checks and balances in place, Patnaik said water has been given away to industries at the cost of agriculture and drinking needs of villages.
The OPCC chief said between 2000 and 2013, around 3600 farmers had committed suicide and the number has increased since then. Most of the farmers who took the extreme step were from Balangir, Nuapada, Deogarh, Balasore and Angul districts, he said.
Stating that 30,000 people working in the farm sector had migrated to neighbouring States by February, 2016 to work in brick kilns, Patnaik alleged that the Government has so far failed to take any measure to curb migration which has become a regular affair. Though the situation did not show any sign of improvement, Rs 27139 crore was spent in the irrigation sector during a period of three years from 2016-17 to 2018-19, he said.
Patnaik also criticised the State Government for its faulty river water management system. Though many rivers are flowing through Odisha, farmers are not getting any benefits, he said. Odisha may become a dry State in the near future as Chhattisgarh Government has constructed many dams and barrages over Mahanadi river, Patnaik said.
He further criticised the State government for announcing several schemes without doing anything concrete to improve the condition of farmers.