Odisha Congress accuses BJP, BJD of betraying farmers

Congress workers staged a demonstration here today accusing both the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre and the BJD regime in Odisha of betraying farmers and neglecting the farm sector.

The farmers have been betrayed by the Centre and the BJD government in Odisha, the president of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC), Niranjan Patnaik, said during the demonstration.

"They have miserably failed to discharge their duties towards the farm sector and peasants," He said.

Niranjan Patnaik alleged that the BJP, during its four-and-a-half years of rule, has failed to fulfil the promises it had made to the farmers.

"While the agriculture sector is in a miserable condition, the plight of farmers, mainly in Odisha, have grown manifold," he said.

Terming, the hike in Minimum Support Price (MSP) of paddy announced by the centre recently, as hollow and misleading, the PCC Chief said the previous UPA government had increased MSP on paddy by Rs 170 per quintal.

Five years have passed since then, but the BJP-led government announced the hike of MSP on paddy by Rs 200 without calculating the production cost, he said accusing BJP of being insensitive towards the farmers in Odisha.

Accusing the Centre of having waived loans of big industrialists amounting to Rs 1.54 lakh crore, Patnaik said no such relief has been provided to the farmers by the Narendra Modi government.

The Congress leader also termed the Centre's promise to double the income of farmers by 2022 as a ploy to mislead the farming community.

The PCC president also accused the BJD government in the state of ignoring the problems of farmers while extending relief to industries.

While several other states have been providing a number of relief to the farmers, the Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha has failed to waive farm loans and to ensure remunerative prices for agricultural produce.

Hit by debt burden, the farmers in the state are forced to resort to distress sale and even commit suicide, but the state government is unable to take any concrete step to save the farming community from the crisis, Patnaik claimed.