BHUBANESWAR : Warming up to the farmers in the face of acute agrarian crisis in the State, Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik on Friday appointed Rajya Sabha member Prasanna Acharya as the president of Biju Krushak Janata Dal (BKJD), the farmers’ wing of the regional outfit. Acharya will be assisted by Health and Family Welfare Minister Pratap Jena, who has been appointed as secretary general of BKJD.
The Chief Minister had earlier appointed a Ministerial Committee headed by Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera to go into the demands of farmers who are agitating for their demands price, prestige and pension under the banner of Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan (NNKS).
However, agitating farmers on Friday served an ultimatum to the State Government to solve their problems by Januray 31 after they were not allowed to meet Governor Ganeshi Lal. Convenor of NNKS Akshaya Kumar warned that the party may face the wrath of the peasants in the next election if the State Government failed to fulfil their demands. Assembly elections are due next year in Odisha.
Members of NNKS marched from Raghunathpur area in the Capital to meet the Governor. However, they were stopped on the way at Shastrinagar area of the city. The agitating farmers staged a dharna in protest at the Lower PMG square here.
Kumar said the results of Assembly elections to five states indicated that farmers are now united and if Odisha Government does not make its stand clear on their demands by January 31, NNKS will intensify agitation from February 1. “Odisha Government may also face the same situation, if it ignores farmers’ demands,” he said and threatened that the State Government would be responsible for the law and order situation likely to be created after the January 31 deadline.
NNKS had earlier rejected the State Government’s inter-ministerial committee and refused to talk to the panel headed by the Finance Minister. “We have rejected the inter-ministerial committee and will not hold any discussion with the panel. Let the Government issue an ordinance announcing pension for farmers,” Kumar said.