Bhubaneswar: Leader of the Opposition Naveen Patnaik today wrote to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi seeking immediate steps to compensate farmers who have been hit hard by unseasonal rains and inquiry into alleged farmers’ suicide in the State.
After making an extensive tour of rain-affected Ganjam, Puri, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara district on December 30 and 31, Patnaik has written the letter to the CM.
“The farmers and their families are in severe distress. The rains have caused extensive damage to both paddy and non-paddy crops during the harvesting period,” he said.
Stating that this kind of situation has not happened in the recent past, the former CM said the farmers were not aware about the intensity of rains as the Government advisory was not issued on time. Besides, at many places the survey of crop damage has not yet been done.
The most disturbing and unfortunate part of the disaster is the suicide of farmers in different parts of the State, he said.
“During my visit to Jagatsinghpur district I had gone to the house of a young farmer, Krutibas Swain of Balikuda Block, who allegedly committed suicide on 30th December due to crop loss. It is indeed deeply disturbing,” alleged Shri Patnaik.
The farmers and their families have faced a huge calamity. Their confidence is shattered. In such circumstances, he demanded that the Government must work hard and provide timely and adequate compensation so as to boost the confidence of farmers.
Further, he pointed out that Odisha is one state in the country that faces frequent natural calamities because of its geographical location. The people bear the brunt of natural disasters almost every year. This puts additional stress on resources of the state.
“This is the reason why BJD has been demanding and will continue to demand special category status for Odisha. Today, if Odisha was a special category State, our farmers’ families would have benefitted immensely with additional support and their broken confidence would have been restored in a timely manner,” Shri Patnaik wrote.
He urged the Government to take the plight of the farmers very seriously and order proper inquiry followed by timely compensation.
Also, the government advisory to farmers on weather updates should be given in a timely manner henceforth, Shri Patnaik advised.