Bhubaneswar: The Assembly Friday witnessed a face-off between Congress Legislature Party Leader Narasingha Mishra and Agriculture Minister Arun Sahoo over suicides by farmers.
Participating in a debate on the admissibility of an adjournment motion on the government’s failure to check suicides by farmers in the state, Mishra claimed that at least four farmers have committed suicide in July due to loss of crops and mounting debts. He said the government is not ready to accept it.
The Congress sought a report from the Odisha government on the reason for suicides by farmers in the state, alleging that the Naveen Patnaik-led dispensation was indifferent to their plight.
“The farmers of Bolangir, Bargarh, Balasore and Jagatsinghpur districts have committed suicide as scanty rainfall had led to huge crop loss. Suicides are increasing in the state as the government has failed to provide irrigation facilities,” Mishra said.
Farmers depend on rainfall as the government has failed to provide irrigation facilities to them, he said, adding, “The claims of the government on irrigation remains only on paper. If the government has failed to provide irrigation even after ruling the state for nearly 20 years, what is more shameful than this?”
“What can a poor farmer do after losing his crop? They are already burdened by debts,” he said.
Attacking the Modi Government at the Centre the Congress leader said, “The Centre is only shedding crocodile tears for farmers. Before the 2014 general election, the BJP had announced that farmers will get 1.5 times more than the cost of production. That promise has not yet been fulfilled.”
Terming both the BJP and the BJD as anti-farmer, he said both the governments are not doing anything for farmers. He urged the state government to probe the farmer suicides with the help of a district magistrate or sub-divisional magistrate and submit the report to the House.
Mishra also demanded Rs 10 lakh compensation and a job to the families of deceased farmers.
In his reply, Sahoo contended that farm-related issues were not the reason behind the suicides.
“It is a fact that the farmers have committed suicide. But the reason is something else and not connected to farming,” Sahoo said without elaborating further.
Whenever suicides by farmers are reported, the concerned Collector and SP jointly investigate the incident and submit a report to the Home Department within 24 hours, Sahoo said.
Taking a dig at Mishra, he asked, “How can the senior Congress legislator speak like an inexperienced person?” The Minister urged Mishra to acquire some knowledge about farming.
The Congress Legislature Party Leader again reacted to Sahoo’s statement and said, “Even when BJD MP Prasanna Acharya admitted in the Rajya Sabha that farmers in the state have taken their lives due to crop loss and loans, the Minister of the same party in Odisha claims otherwise. Is it not hypocrisy on the BJD’s part?”
No other BJP member participated in the debate as they were protesting against passage of the supplementary budget in the House.