Odisha: BJP draws Governor S C Jamir's attention towards farmers' plight

BHUBANESWAR: Alleging that the BJD government in Odisha failed to resolve farmers' problems in the tribal areas of the state, BJP today drew the attention of Governor S C Jamir to a drought-like situation in some of the scheduled districts and sought his intervention in the issue.

A BJP delegation led by senior leader K V Singhdeo called on the Governor at the Raj Bhawan here.

"We have urged the Governor to exercise his special powers and intervene (in the issue. Farmers in the scheduled areas have lost crops due to drought," Bijay Mohapatra, who was part of the BJP delegation, said.

The party submitted a memorandum to the Governor demanding compensation to drought-affected farmers, assessment of crop damages and repair of lift irrigation points.

It also requested that the farmers loan repayment be deferred till the situation improves.

"A BJP team had recently visited 13 blocks and 56 villages in five districts and prepared a report. Today, we submitted a memorandum regarding this. We also informed the Governor that this year's drought is more intense than that of 1965. But the government has not taken any steps and no directive was issued," said Singhdeo.

"No official has so far reached affected farmers. The government must initiate action against district collectors for non-implementation of order, if any," he said.

Mohapatra, meanwhile, claimed that BJP first drew people's attention towards the drought-like situation.

The situation in Sambalpur, Nuapada and Kalahandi districts is miserable, he said, adding that no agricultural activity was being undertaken done at many places.

Agriculture Minister Pradeep Kumar Maharathy, however, rejected BJP's allegation and said, "We have stocked adequate quality seeds in drought-prone areas. The district administrations have been told to keep a vigil on the ground situation".