Bhubaneswar: The state BJP Krushak Morcha Thursday attempted to barge into state Secretariat demanding the removal of Cooperation Minister Surya Narayan Patro from the Cabinet for making false promises.
Holding posters and banners, the BJP activists attempted to break the police cordon before the Gate No 4 of the Secretariat. However, police prevented them from entering the Secretariat after a scuffle with the agitators. Many activists were also arrested.
“The minister had claimed that 3,013 mandis have been opened at various places for procuring paddy. But, the reality is far from his claim. In many places, the mandis have not been opened yet,” said Krushak Morcha president Sibaji Mohanty.
Similarly, Patro had also claimed that all farmers are getting Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 1,750 per quintal of paddy at the mandis. He had also announced to quit politics, if a single farmer denied from MSP.
“Our farmer friends tried to enter into the Secretariat to show the truth to the minister. However, they were not allowed to meet him. So we demand the ouster of Patro from the Cabinet,” he said.
Due to unholy nexuses between the government officials and millers, the farmers are in distress and selling their paddy at anything between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,200 per quintal, the BJP leader alleged.
The agitating farmers demanded that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik should take immediate action against Patro for his ‘false’ claims.
While giving details of this year’s paddy procurement, Patro had said, “Around 21.61 lakh MT of paddy was procured during the Kharif season this year, which is nearly 18 per cent more compared to last year’s total procurement. Moreover, 12.6 lakh farmers have registered themselves to participate in the procurement process during the current year.”
The minister had further stated that nearly 2,22,000 additional farmers have registered this year, while the number of mandis has also increased to 3,013 from 2,929 last year.
Reacting to the issue, BJD spokesperson Sasmit Patra said, “BJP has no moral right to protest on behalf of farmers. They had promised to hike the MSP one-and-half times and implement the recommendations of the Swaminathnan Committee. What happened to that?”
