BHUBANESWAR: The State Assembly on Saturday witnessed a heated discussion on farmers’ issues with the Opposition members criticising the Government for ignoring their demands and not fulfilling promises.
The issue cropped up during discussion on an adjournment motion notice brought by Congress members. While they criticised both the Centre and the State for neglecting the farm sector, BJP members pointed fingers at the State Government for trying to woo the farmers when elections are round the corner. Not satisfied with the reply of Agriculture Minister Pradip Maharathi, BJP members staged a walk-out from the House.
Alleging that the State Government is trying to suppress the voice of the farmers by not paying them pension and bonus on paddy, Leader of the Opposition Narasingh Mishra said that cultivators do not get the minimum support price (MSP) for their produces. “An unholy nexus among Government officials and Food Corporation of India (FCI) and mill owners is responsible for the plight of the farmers,” he said.
Criticising the Government for not allowing farmers to enter the Capital City to press their demand, Mishra asked when teachers, lawyers and others can agitate here, why not the farmers. “The Government has violated the farmers’ constitutional rights by preventing them from entering the Capital,” he said.
Initiating the discussion, Opposition chief whip Taraprasad Bahinipati criticised the Prime Minister’s Office for not responding to two letters written by the Speaker on Odisha’s demand to raise MSP on paddy. He alleged that though the Government has ignored the farmers’ demand for hike in MSP, pension and prestige, it has provided `500 crore to the Biju Yuva Vahini which is indulging in goonda raj.
His party colleague Naba Kishore Das said though a unanimous resolution was passed in the Assembly to fix paddy MSP at `2930 per quintal, the Centre ignored it. Stating that the State Government is shedding crocodile tears for the farmers, Das said the Potato Mission has been a total failure.
BJP members Rabi Naik and Pradip Purohit demanded that the Government should pay compensation to the families of farmers who commit suicide due to crop loss. Besides, bonus should be paid on paddy as announced by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Sohela in 2015.
However, Government chief whip Amar Prasad Satpathy asked the opposition members not to politicise the farmers’ issues as the Government has already taken steps to resolve their problems.
Making a statement in response, the Agriculture Minister said the Government is committed to solve all the problems faced by the farmers. A ministerial committee has been formed to discuss in detail and resolve the problems faced by them, he said.