Bhubaneswar: All three major political parties in the state– BJD, Congress and BJP– Monday geared themselves up to pitch farmers’ issues both in and outside the State Assembly that begins its winter session Tuesday.
With no parties ready to cede ground to others on issues related to farmers such as crop loss, poor disbursement of agriculture aid, farmers’ suicide and paltry hike in paddy MSP, the issue is set to dominate the proceedings in the month-long Assembly session.
On expected lines, problems pertaining to farmers and agriculture sector topped the lists of Congress, BJP and BJD that convened their respective legislature party meetings Monday to hone their strategies for the winter session. Earlier in the day, they staged protests at different places in the city to counter one another over these issues.
After chairing the Congress legislature party meeting, Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra said, “Issues concerning farmers will be raised strongly on the floor of the house.”
Congress leaders said crop loss, pest attack, paddy MSP row, farmers’ suicide and other problems faced by farmers in the state will be raised and adequate aid for aggrieved farmers will be sought.
Congress has also decided to highlight how the Prime Minister has ignored Orissa’s request to hike paddy MSP to `2,930 despite Orissa Speaker’s letter to him for a meeting in this regard.
The BJP in its legislature party meeting said farmers’ issue will top its agenda during the winter session. The saffron party said it will raise how a nexus between the state government and pesticide firms and traders resulted in supply of sub-standard pesticides to farmers forcing them to commit suicide. 
The party will also pitch for a waiver of farm loans in the state like it has been announced in some other states.
Meanwhile, BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said his party will raise the paddy MSP issue firmly on the floor of the house. Earlier in the day the state capital witnessed a series of protests by these parties over the farmer issue. A face-off ensued between agitating BJP activists and police near RBI office here when the former were trying to barge into the Secretariat after breaking barricades. The BJP activists wanted to meet Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the Secretariat but were stopped by the police personnel which led to a minor scuffle. The BJP Krusak Morcha organized a rally from its state headquarters demanding a bonus of `100 per quintal of paddy.
A delegation of the Congress Kisan Morcha visited the Raj Bhavan and submitted a memorandum to the Governor demanding a hike in paddy MSP.
On the other hand, the BJD also staged a mass demonstration in front of the Raj Bhavan protesting the Centre’s rejection of the state’s proposal for a hike in paddy MSP. The party submitted a memorandum to Governor SC Jamir addressed to the President in this regard.
3.84 lakh ha crops rain-hit
Bhubaneswar: The state government Monday said crops on 3.84 lakh hectares of land belonging to 12.4 lakh farmers in 19 districts were affected by unseasonal rain between November 15 and 17.
“We have received provisional reports on damage of crops due to unseasonal cyclonic rain from all districts Monday. 19 out of 30 districts have reported crop damage due to the rain while there was no impact of rain in remaining 11 districts,” special relief commissioner (SRC) Bishnupada Sethi said.
There was crop loss of 33 per cent and more in 3,84,018 hectares in 15,000 villages under 2,453 panchayats in 135 blocks and 161 wards in 35 urban local bodies (ULBs), Sethi said. As per preliminary estimates, paddy in 3,68,070 hectares and other crops in 15,947 hectares sustained damage of 33 per cent or more, he said, adding, as many as 12,49,681 farmers were affected by the calamity.
Highest 97,223 hectares were damaged in Ganjam followed by Kendrapara (72,322 ha), Jajpur (49,298 ha), Puri (39,952 ha), Khurda (39,503 ha), Bhadrak (31,049 ha) and Nayagarh (24,792 ha), the report said. Similarly, Cuttack reported damage of crops in 7,814 ha while 6,486 ha of crops was damaged in Mayurbhanj, 5,861 ha in Jagatsinghpur, 4,181 ha in Keonjhar, 1,797 ha in Gajapati, 1,740 ha in Boudh, 1,450 ha in Rayagada, 311 ha in Kandhamal, 133 ha in Koraput, 43 ha in Dhenkanal, 41 ha in Balasore and 3 ha in Nabarangpur, it said.
Sudarsan Maharana, OP
