Bhubaneswar: The BJD Tuesday termed the paddy procurement situation in Odisha as “alarming” as the state government was yet to “open” mandis in eight districts.
Addressing a press conference here, BJD vice president Sanjay Das Burma, spokesperson Lenin Mohanty, and media Coordinator Priyabrata Majhi criticised the “gross mismanagement” in paddy procurement and the government’s “apathy” towards farmers.
“Of the total 19,66,181 farmers registered with the state government to sell their paddy, only 3,40,294 cultivators have so far been able to sell their produce,” the party said in a statement.
The BJD alleged that Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s assurance to open mandis in all districts by January 10 has been ignored.
Das Burma said that the chief secretary had also issued similar directions during a review meeting January 3 to open mandis.
“However, even today, mandis have not been opened in eight districts like Puri, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Nayagarh, Jajpur, and Kandhamal,” he said.
The BJD leader also stated that while Odisha had set a paddy procurement target of 73 lakh metric tonne, only 17.85 lakh metric tonne have been procured so far. In contrast, neighbouring Chhattisgarh, which had a target of 80 lakh metric tonne, has already procured 97 lakh metric tonne of paddy, Das Burma said.
The BJD leaders also criticised the state government over the denial of Rs 69 per quintal of paddy to farmers, even as the central government has raised the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of paddy from Rs 2,300 to Rs 2,369 per quintal.
Along with the state government’s input assistance of Rs 800 per quintal of paddy, the farmers should get Rs 3,169 per quintal. “However, the government is paying only Rs 3,100, which is yet another act of deception against farmers,” they said.
Mohanty stated that the BJD stands firmly with the farming community. Protests and agitation programmes are already underway to protect farmers’ interests against the mismanagement in paddy procurement.
Priyabrata Majhi warned that if the state government fails to immediately resolve the issues faced by farmers, the BJD will intensify its movement and launch statewide agitations.
The state government was yet to react to the BJD’s allegations.
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