NUAPADA: Life came to a standstill in Nuapada district due to the eight-hour bandh called by BJP over various issues of farmers on Friday. All government and private offices, courts, banks, educational institutions and business establishments remained closed due to the bandh which began at 6 am and continued till 2 pm. Similarly, vehicular movement was also affected as agitators picketed at multiple locations in five blocks of the district besides Nuapada town.
The protesters demanded strict action against a deduction of paddy at mandis and a CBI probe into the alleged corruption in procurement. They also demanded an end to distress sales. General Secretary of State BJP Prasanna Kumar Padhi said despite repeated complaints by Nuapada farmers, the state government has failed to resolve the problems of distress sale and deduction of paddy during procurement.
“Due to the government inaction, rice millers and middlemen have an upper hand in the paddy procurement process. This is helping them to swindle crores of rupees which actually belong to farmers. The bandh was called to draw the attention of the ruling party and remind it that BJP will continue to fight for the rights of farmers,” he said.
Other demands of the agitators included provision of up to 300 units of free electricity to farmers for agricultural purposes, increase in wages of labourers engaged at mandis, opening of cotton and maize mandis to protect the growers from distress sale, reduction in security deposit for deep bore-well, construction of barrages for irrigation in Boden and Sinapali blocks, a new canal from Patora dam besides disbursal of crop insurance and input subsidy to farmers at the earliest.