BJD targets Odisha government, calls paddy procurement process ‘chaotic’

Bhubaneswar: The Opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD), on Tuesday, targeted the Odisha government, alleging that it had betrayed the farmers of the state over the "chaotic paddy procurement process".

Speaking at a press conference held at the party headquarters here, senior BJD leaders termed the mess in the state's paddy procurement process as alarming.

State BJD Vice-President Sanjay Kumar Das Burma, on Monday, criticised the BJP-led state government for the gross mismanagement in paddy procurement and its apathy towards farmers.

"Since nearly 70 per cent of Odisha's population depends on agriculture, paddy procurement is a critically important issue. However, it is extremely unfortunate that the procurement process this year has become completely chaotic," Das Burma alleged.

He added that during the election campaign, the BJP had assured farmers that all surplus paddy in the state would be procured, but the ground reality is entirely different.

The senior BJD leader noted that paddy procurement is not taking place as scheduled.

"An examination of official procurement data clearly reveals that the situation is deeply alarming. While 19,66,181 farmers are registered in the state, only 3,40,294 farmers have so far been able to sell their paddy," Das Burma added.

He said that on December 24, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had reviewed the situation and assured that mandis would be opened in all districts by January 10.

Odisha Chief Secretary Sanjay Dasburma had also issued similar directions during a review meeting on January 3.

He alleged that despite all these assurances, mandis have so far not been opened in eight districts -- Puri, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Nayagarh, Jajpur and Kandhamal.

Das Burma alleged that the directives of the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary have thus turned out to be nothing more than empty words.

He also said that while Odisha had set a paddy procurement target of 73 lakh metric tonnes, only 17.85 lakh metric tonnes have been procured so far.

"In contrast, neighbouring Chhattisgarh, which had a target of 80 lakh metric tonnes, has already procured 97 lakh metric tonnes of paddy."

This, Das Burma added, clearly demonstrates that Odisha's paddy procurement system is in a far more serious condition compared to Chhattisgarh.

He also criticised a recent statement by the State Food Supplies Minister Krushna Chandra Patra, who said that only 150 quintals of paddy would be procured from a farmer at Rs 3,100 per quintal and that the remaining paddy should be sold outside the mandi system.

"Such a statement is extremely unfortunate and exposes the BJP's false promises made solely to gain votes. The farmers of Odisha have never been subjected to such betrayal before. Moreover, since the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for paddy has been increased from Rs 2,300 to Rs 2,369 per quintal, the state government should be paying Rs 3,169 per quintal instead of Rs 3,100. However, the government is paying only Rs 3,100, which is yet another act of deception against farmers," Das Burma noted.