BHUBANESWAR: Odisha government today said it is not in favour of providing financial assistance to the families of farmers who committed suicide due to agricultural crisis.
"The state government is not in favour of giving any financial assistance to the families of farmers who committed suicide as it may have adverse impact," Industries Minister Debiprasad Mishra said on the opposition Congress's proposal.
Mishra was replying to an adjournment motion debate on behalf of Agriculture Minister Pradeep Kumar Maharathy.
He said that Karnataka government had to withdraw a provision of giving compensation to families of its farmers who ended their lives as the administration failed to control the suicide spate.
Mishra informed the House that those farmers taking loan from cooperative societies, got life insurance coverage of at least Rs one lakh. If the farmer dies within the coverage period, he gets the assured sum.
Earlier during the debate, Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra suggested the state government to make a provision of compensation of at least Rs one lakh for the poor farmers' families who lost their kins due to crop loss or loan burden.
"The Government of Maharastra has been giving financial assistance to their farmers' family. It may cost maximum Rs two crore to Rs three crore," Mishra said.
He also asked the state government to solve the water scarcity problems being faced by the farmers during dry spell.
He alleged that the inquiry into the farmers' death cases are done by lower ranking revenue officials and constables instead of district collectors and SPs.
Earlier, participating in the debate Congress members demanded Rs 20 lakh compensation for the kin of farmers who committed suicide.
They alleged that over 200 farmers have committed suicide due to drought in 2015. However, the government put the suicide toll at 175 and claimed that the suicides were due to other reasons than owing to agricultural crisis.
The state government, on the other hand, claimed that it was sensitive to farmers' needs and doing its best to bail out the community during crisis.