Bhubaneswar: The Opposition Congress party on Friday staged protest rallies in front of block offices across the state seeking to fulfil their three-point charter of demands in favour of farmers’ interests in Odisha.
The three demands are farm loan waiver, increase in minimum support price (MSP) for paddy to Rs. 3000 rupees per quintal and additional financial assistance of Rs. 600 rupees per quintal for paddy crops.
Talking to Kalinga TV, Congress Krushak Cell President Amiya Patnaik said, “Both the Centre and state governments are responsible for the miserable condition of the farmers across the state.”
“The UPA government had waived a record Rs. 52,000 crore rupees of farmers’ loans in 2009. The move benefited millions of farmers with loan amounts ranging from Rs 20,000 to Rs 1 lakh. However, neither the Modi government nor the Naveen government have waived farmers’ loans in Odisha despite the huge loss of crops that occurred across the state during last kharif season,” he added.
Recently, a team of the Congress Krushak Cell called on Vice-Chairman of the Niti Aayog Dr. Arvind Panagariya in New Delhi, and presented a 14-point memorandum over various issues affecting farmers across the nation.
Ms Kalinga