Cuttack: A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the Orissa High Court Monday seeking a judicial probe into the suicides by farmers after being frustrated by pest attacks in different parts of the state.
Bharatiya Vikash Parishad president Surendra Panigrahi filed the petition and demanded a judicial probe by a sitting judge of HC into the farmers’ suicides and alleged irregularities in the supply of pesticides and other issues.
The petitioner alleged that the minimum support price of paddy is not being hiked. As a result, the farmers are suffering huge losses. Panigrahi demanded that the MSP for paddy should be fixed at `3,500 per quintal.
The petitioner also pleaded with the HC to pass an order to the state government to provide compensation, insurance and complete waiver of loans to the farmers affected by the pest attacks.
The petitioner has made the cabinet secretary, agriculture department, secretaries of central and state governments, state chief secretary and state food supplies department secretary parties to the case.
Panigrahi has further submitted that although the farmers were committing suicides after suffering huge losses due to pest attacks, the state government was not taking any preventive measures in this regard.
“There is need to compensate the families of the deceased farmers and waive their loans, the petitioner added.
Although a large number of families in the country depend upon agriculture for their livelihood, there is no special scheme to improve the condition of the farmers. The cost of labourer fees, seeds, fertilisers and pesticides have increased manifold but the prices of agricultural products are not being hiked in that comparison.
Besides, there is lack of adequate markets to sell the products. The government does not take any noteworthy measures in this regard, thus forcing the farmers to take the extreme step after failing to repay their loans, Panigrahi said in his petition, besides praying to the court for immediate measures to stop farmer suicides.
Dama for probe into ‘substandard’ pesticides
Bhubaneswar: Agriculture Minister Damodar Rout Monday said that probe would be conducted to find out whether the pesticides and insecticides supplied to farmers at subsidised rates were of poor quality.
“We will probe, if quality of pesticides supplied to farmers was substandard. If the quality is found to be poor, strong action will be taken against seller as well as the firm,” Rout said after attending a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the secretariat.
Both Rout and Revenue Minister Mohanty said that pest-attack is not new as 50,000 hectare land were pest-hit in 2016-17 and 59,000 hectare land were pest-infested in 2015-16.
Experts are of the opinion that unusual rain during Deepavali caused more pest attacks during this kharif season, Rout added.
Meanwhile, Labour Minister Sushant Singh alleged that there is a political conspiracy behind it to blame the BJD government and the activists of BJP are responsible for it.
Sahu, who came up with a video to substantiate his claim, said that it was the BJP activists who instigated Brundaban Sahoo, a sharecropper from Bargarh, to set his crops on fire and commit suicide. “I will file a police complaint with the video as evidence. I will submit it to the Chief Minister seeking appropriate action for instigating farmers to take such a drastic step,” the BJD MLA and Minister told media this day.
Rout had also a few days back alleged a political conspiracy behind such crop burning and suicides.
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