BHUBANESWAR: Even as BJD is claiming credit for higher growth in the agriculture sector, BJP on Saturday targeted the ruling party for miserably failing in its Potato Mission.
Alleging that Rs 300 crore has been embezzled under the mission, State BJP general secretary Prithivraj Harichandan asked BJD to explain why the mission failed even as so much was spent on it.
Dubbing the Potato Mission a sham, the BJP leader said the BJD Government has mastered the art of deceiving people.
“The State Government was never serious about agriculture and betterment of farmers. Three years is a long time to achieve self-sufficiency in potato production, but the Government has no such intention,” he said.
While launching the State Potato Mission in December 2014, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had promised to construct 112 cold storage within three years ending March 2018. Claiming that 26 cold storages were constructed in private sector in the last four years, Harichandan said all of them are on the verge of closure owing to lack of Government support to promoters who are reeling under the burden of high capital cost and interest.
Apart from under-utilisation of capacity, the cold storage owners have to pay electricity bill as per commercial rate, he said.
All the promoters have eroded the entire working capital of their units during the last four years of operation. The units are on the verge of shutting down.
While they have lost the hope of revival, the BJP leader said the farmers who thought that the units were going to provide them safe landing for their produce and provide security to their earnings are also at stress.
Though the mission seeks to ramp up tuber output in the State to 11.2 lakh tonne by 2017-18 up from 2 lakh tonne, four years down the line, Odisha’s potato production has gone down, Harichandan said and warned the Chief Minister that the farmers will give a befitting reply to his party in the upcoming elections.