New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Dr Sasmit Patra on Thursday urged the Central Government to resolve various issues of farmers in Odisha.
The BJD MP raised three pressing issues of the farmers of Odisha in the Rajya Sabha through a Special Mention and demanded that the Government of India resolve the issues
The Biju Janata Dal MP said that at first, the non-payments and delayed payments of Fasal Bima (Crop insurance) to the farmers of Odisha have resulted in suffering for many farmers, especially in the western, coastal and southern regions of the state.
The second issue is the need for fixing the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Paddy at Rs.2930 per quintal as it was unanimously resolved in the Odisha Vidhan Sabha on March 25th, 2017 by all MLAs present in the Odisha Legislative Assembly, Patra said.
The BJD MP said that the third issue is the need to implement the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission report for the development and welfare of the farmers especially in Odisha.
“To resolve these three issues, firstly the Government of India needs to ensure timely payments of Fasal Bima to the farmers failing which they have to undergo a lot of suffering. Secondly, the MSP of paddy at Rs. 2930 per quintal needs to be fixed by the Government of India which will enable farmers to have the right price for their produce. And thirdly, the Government of India needs to implement all the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission report including providing MSP at 1.5 times of the C2 value for the farmers at least,” Patra said. It will enable farmers to have the right price for their produce, he added.
“The government of Odisha has written to the Government of India several times in this regard and I am hopeful that the Government of India would resolve these issues of the farmers of Odisha,” the BJD MP said. He reiterated that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has written to the Government of India several times in this regard.
