Bhubaneswar: Coming down heavily on the earstwhile BJD-ruled government, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Majhi said farmer suicides were on the rise in the State due to the former's apathetic approach towards farmers but the BJP has now put a check on it with its proactive measures. 

Speaking at the  'All India Cooperative Week’2024' celebration in Bhubaneswar, Majhi said the previous government had sat on the longstanding demand of farmers for Rs 100 bonus per quintal, but the BJP, after coming to power in the State, made a sweeping move with announcing an additional amount of Rs 800 per quintal of paddy to farmers thereby raising the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy to Rs 3,100 per quintal. The additional amount of Rs 800 along with the Rs 2,300 will be credited to accounts of farmers through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) within 48 hours of selling to the government. 

With the paddy procrement for kharif all set to kickstart from November third week, Majhi said the BJP government will start implementation of the input subsidy hike at Sohela in Bargarh district on December 8, the same place where last year former CM Naveen Patnaik had announced a bonus but failed to deliver.

Lambasting the previous government, Majhi said the spate of farmer suicides had risen during the party's tenure where not a single bonus was announced for farmers in last nine years. But the BJP, within an hour of coming to power, held a Cabinet meeting to uphold their election manifesto regarding the hike in farmers' assistance. "Last year, former CM Naveen Patnaik had announced bonus at Sohela in Bargarh but did not live up to his words. But we will kickstart the input assistance hike of Rs 800 on December 8 at the same place and farmers will get their longstanding demand fulfilled," he said.

"The BJD government made tall claims but none of its policies seemed to favour farmers which is why the cases of farmer suicides rose during their tenure. But the BJP government, after coming to power in Odisha, walked the talk and has made farmers' welfare a priority. Our decision to give additional Rs 800 per quintal paddy is reflective of our commitment towards the community. Now, if a farmer sells 50 quintal paddy, he will get additional Rs 40,000 which is no small amount. This apart, the CM Kisan programme along with PM Kisan guarantees Rs 10,000 financial assistance annually to farmers (Rs 4,000 and Rs 6,000, respectively)," Majhi stated. 

Stressing on the importance of the cooperative movement across the country and in Odisha, the CM said the BJP under the aegis of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has gone great lengths to strengthen the institution and build a culture committed towards ensuring economic empowerment of  poorer sections of the society. "The precursor of the co-operative movement in Odisha was Madhusudan Das. He organised the first multifacet cooperative enterprise of the country "The Cuttack Cooperative Store" as early as 1898. This was no small feat. Over the years, reforms have been introduced and the cooperative movement has evolved. Our aim is to not make new rules but erase irregularities and streamline the institution so that the goal of socio-economic justice to poorer sections is achieved," he added, going on state that schemes like LAMPS have benfitted almost 50 lakh families from various professions in the State.