BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has come under sharp criticism from the Opposition for rejecting their demand of farm loan waiver and failure to address the problems of farmers. Launching a scathing attack on the ruling BJD for the prevailing distressed condition of Odisha farmers, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said the monthly average income of farmers remains one of the lowest in the country at Rs 1,407 per family.
“Will Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik explain why Odisha farmers are at the bottom while other states are far ahead so far as the monthly average income of farmers is concerned?” Pradhan questioned in a tweet.
Highlighting the failures of State Government, Pradhan said irrigation coverage is less than 35 per cent of the total arable area in 90 blocks even after 19 years of BJD rule in the State. “Five cold stores of Cooperative Department were functional while 12 were defunct when the BJD-led Government came to power in 2000. The situation remains the same.
This speaks volumes about the commitment of the Chief Minister for development of farm sector,” Pradhan said. Similarly, the much-hyped State Potato Mission launched in 2014-15 came to a naught with a production of 2.68 lakh tonnes in 2017-18 against 11.25 lakh tonne target. It is matter of shame that milk production in Odisha is way behind the states like Rajasthan and for eggs, the State is still dependant on Andhra Pradesh.
Dubbing the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme for supporting small and marginal farmers and landless agricultural labourers in the State as another attempt of the BJD to hoodwink farmers, the Union Minister said when the State Government has admitted in the Assembly that it does not have any data on sharecroppers, how could it extend financial assistance to them.”
Lambasting Odisha Government for launching a new scheme when general election is round-the-corner, senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the KALIA scheme which cannot be implemented in such a short time is only to deceive farmers. On the BJD demand for higher paddy MSP, Singhvi said the ruling party is shedding crocodile tears while following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s footsteps on critical issues.