Odisha govt sensitive to needs of farmers: Naveen

Rejecting opposition Congress and BJP's anti-farmer slur against the Odisha government, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today said he is sensitive towards farmers' needs in the state.
Patnaik said this while replying on the motion of thanks to Governor S C Jamir's address.
"Let me assure this House that our government is sensitive to the needs of our farmers," he said.
In spite of several hurdles like frequent natural calamities, highly erratic monsoon and uneven distribution of rainfall, agriculture has been on a growth trajectory and proven itself to be the most resilient economy activity of the state, Patnaik said.
The state government has been preparing a separate budget for this sector for judicious allocation of resources, better targeting of farmer's needs and to boost productivity, he said.

The Chief Minister said the state government has been setting up an agriculture cabinet in the state in its bid to boost production and make farmers self sufficient and has also made insurance schemes for the farmers' families.

"To raise productivity by creating additional
irrigation potential to the tune of ten lakh hectares by 2019, the state government has substantially increased the budgetary allocation in this sector," Patnaik said.
He said the water resources department has been taking required steps to complete some of the ongoing major/medium/ minor irrigation projects, expanding canal systems in the reservoir projects, construction of 10,000 check dams, one lakh deep bore wells, a large number of lift irrigation projects and 175 mega lift irrigation projects.

Referring to Leader of Opposition Naraingha Mishra's allegation of irregularities in the recruitment of assistant executive engineers, Patnaik said appointment letters were issued in a proper manner.
"The issue raised by the Leader of Opposition is not based on facts," he said.
The Chief Minister said the state government was working for the development of KBK region and tribal areas.
Claiming that law and order situation in the state was well under control, he said Left-Wing Extremism was also on the decline as many of cadre of the banned outfit have surrendered.
Patnaik said his government would present a pragmatic budget with enhanced plan outlay tomorrow despite several hurdles.