BHUBANESWAR: As the BJD and BJP have locked horns over farmer issues, the ruling party on Monday announced a State-wide agitation against the anti-farmer policies of the Centre. The decision came a day after the BJP sounded its plans for holding a massive rally in Sambalpur on January 21 over irregularities in paddy procurement and the demand for withdrawal of the token system.
BJD leaders including government deputy chief whip Rohit Pujari, former minister Snehangini Chhuria and Rajendra Dholakia alleged that the Centre has decided not to lift parboiled rice through Food Corporation of India (FCI) and held back release of subsidy of about `6,040 crore which is putting a severe financial burden on the State. They threatened State-wide agitation if corrective measures are not taken within the next seven days.
They threatened that farmers will descend on the streets, if the demand for lifting 31 lakh tonne paddy of mostly parboiled rice for 2020-21 is not accepted by the Centre/FCI within a week. “The BJD will support and stand by the farmers. We hope better sense prevails in the BJP and instead of shedding crocodile tears here, the party raises its voice against this injustice meted out to Odisha farmers,” the leaders said.
Stating that a desperate BJP is worried by the growing popularity of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik after he inaugurated the mega lift irrigation project in Kalahandi and unveiled other steps to boost agriculture productivity in Western Odisha last week, they said that the saffron party will not succeed in misleading the people. “People of Odisha know that while BJD stands with the farmers, the BJP works against their interest,” they said.
The BJD leaders said in the 2020-21 kharif season, about 35.49 lakh tonne paddy has been procured and about 30 lakh tonne more will be bought taking the total procurement to 65 lakh tonne. In the rabi season, another 17 lakh tonne will be procured, taking the total procurement in Odisha during the year to 82 lakh tonne.
They said that out of this, 55 lakh tonne rice, mostly parboiled, will be obtained. While 24 lakh tonne will be consumed in Odisha, 10 lakh tonne, as per the recent letter from the Centre will be procured by the FCI and the rest 21 lakh tonne rice estimated at Rs 7,350 crore will not be lifted.
The BJD leaders released a letter from Satyaprakash Panda, AGM(Procurement) FCI to Vir Vikram Yadav, Secretary in the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare department in which he said due to estimated bumper procurement, there is possibility of glut of 185 lakh tonne parboiled rice stock across the country, thereby, choking its movement/disposal for years.
“In view of the above, it is required to give maximum delivery of raw rice to the extent of 50 per cent of the original estimates. It is also intimated that FCI will not be in a position to accept any surplus parboiled rice during rabi season 2020-21,” the letter said.