BHUBANESWAR:Alleging that farmers are not getting minimum support price (MSP) for paddy and are forced to sell their produce at a much lower price, Leader of the Opposition Narasingh Mishra on Saturday said the overall situation is bleak and hostile to the farming community.In a letter to Governor Ganeshi Lal, Mishra sought his intervention to ensure the security and dignity to the life of the people of the farming community. “The overall ambience is bleak and hostile to the farmers and security of livelihood is denied to them. So, you are requested to intervene and advise the Government of Odisha to ensure security and dignity to the life of the people of the farming community,” he said.
Throughout the State farmers are agitating for price, prestige and pension, Mishra said, adding, each of their demand is justified. Pesticides and fertilisers are not available, he said and added that whenever available, it is sold at a high price. “Pesticides available in the market are produced by fake companies and ineffective,” he said.
The Leader of the Opposition said though an unanimous resolution was passed in the Assembly demanding that the MSP of paddy should be fixed at Rs 2,930 per quintal, the Centre fixed it at Rs 1,750, less than the cost of production which is Rs 2,344 as per the version of the State Government. Taking into view the State Government’s version on cost of production, the MSP on paddy should be fixed at `3516 per quintal, he said.
Mishra also demanded that farmers above 60 years should get pension of Rs 5,000 per month to start with. Criticising the State Government for obstructing and arresting farmers who were coming in large numbers to the Capital on November 5 to place their demand, he said such action was undemocratic.
Alleging that farmers dependent on irrigation in most part of the State are not getting water resulting in drought, Mishra said government statistics about irrigated land is also erroneous. Referring to a reply given by the Chief Minister in the Assembly, irrigated land in Cuttack and Puri districts is more than the total land of the State. Stating that farmers have not received insurance money for last year’s crop loss, Mishra said the private insurance companies and banks have cheated the farmers.