BHUBANESWAR: The BJD on Sunday targeted the Centre for the delay in payment of crop insurance claims to farmers. The party said any further delay in the payment of claims will impact the farmers’ livelihood.BJD MLA from Bargarh Debesh Acharya said though Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had taken up the issue with the Centre several times in the past, it has yielded no result. He said lakhs of farmers from western Odisha districts are suffering due to delays in the settlement of their crop insurance claims.
Cooperation minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak met union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar at New Delhi in this regard recently. Alleging that BJP is trying to make an issue out of this by putting the blame on the state government, Acharya said the saffron party should instead persuade the Centre to release the insurance claims of the farmers.