Sambalpur: Normal life was thrown out of gear in Kuchinda sub-division as a large number of farmers resorted to ‘Mahabandh’ over non-settlement of insurance claims under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) for the 2018 kharip marketing season (KMS), a report said Saturday.
The simmering discontent among farmers over last one year flared up Saturday as they took to the street in Bamra, Kuchinda and Jamankira blocks under the sub-division. Work at all central and state government offices was paralysed. All business establishments, schools and colleges remained shut.
Commuters had a harrowing time as traffic on National Highway-53 was completely disrupted due to road blockades at various places. Thousands of vehicles remained stranded on both sides of the highway.
The district administration, sensing that things are slipping out of hand, hurriedly called farmer leaders for a meeting at the official residence of the Kuchinda sub-collector Biswaranjan Nayak. The farmer leaders agreed to a discussion following which a meeting was held at 2 pm.
Ashok Pradhan, convener of Paschim Odisha Krushak Sangathan, Murari Purohit, district president, Harishankar Purohit, vice-president, Chandrasekhar Panda, local farmer leaders Krushadhwaj Choudhury participated in the meeting which was also attended by Kuchinda MLA Kishore Chandra Nayak, former MLA Rabi Nayak and SDPO Rajkishore Mishra.
The administration sought seven days to resolve the issue and called on farmers to withdraw from the agitation. The administration also assured to convene a tri-partie meeting involving insurance company officials, farmer leaders and the administration at the collector’s office to settle the issue.
However, the farmer leaders refused to relent from the Mahabandh unless they receive the insurance money. However, they agreed to allow school and colleges to reopen and lifted the road blockade. They, however, refused to allow the central and state government offices to function.
Earlier, farmers, demanding insurance claims for 2018-19 KMS, had staged a 41-day relay hunger strike outside the district collectorate. Similarly, farmers in Kuchinda, Jamankira and Bamra blocks have been on strike for last several months by locking up respective panchayat samiti office and cooperative society office in their areas.