BHUBANESWAR: Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Srikant Jena on Tuesday urged Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to fulfil all the demands of farmers without delay.
In a letter to the CM, Jena said if the State Government could waive Rs 50,000 crore to mining companies, where is the problem in writing off Rs 15,000 crore crop loan.
Dubbing the constitution of inter-ministerial committee to look into farmer issues is just a farce, he said the Government could provide a bonus of `500 per quintal of paddy over and above the minimum support price announced by the Centre.
Extending his support to the farmers demands, Jena said the State Government has not kept its promise to provide irrigation to at least 35 per cent of cultivable land in each block. Successive calamities have broken the backbone of farmers. Unable to repay agricultural loans, farmers in distress have been committing suicides.