New Delhi:Biju Janta Dal (BJD) on Friday, demanded Government of India’s immediate action on its unfulfilled promise made in 2014 on increasing the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Paddy in the state of Odisha.
The Central Government has announced the MSP for Common Paddy at Rs. 1750 per quantal while the proposal of State Government for fixing of MSP at Rs.2930 per quintal.
Pratap Jena, Cabinet Minister in the Fifteenth Odisha Legislative Assembly with Health & Family Welfare, Law, Information and Public Relations portfolios said,
“MSP is not only the key distress elevating device, but also an important tool for income generation to the farmers. It is very unfortunate that like the last few years, this year also the proposal of State Government of Odisha for MSP of Paddy has been ignored by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India.”
The farmers of the state are in distress due to low MSP, rising costs of inputs like seeds, fertilizers, manure, micronutrient etc. and hiring charges for farm machinery.
When Ten News asked Prasanna Acharya, Rajya Sabha MP, among Ram Mandir and farmers distress which will be the national political agenda for upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Acharya said,
“Since the ruling party elected to power, not a single required action was taken by the government to resolve the farming and farmers issues, India is based on agriculture. During elections, political parties try to cultivate votes on emotional grounds” from the statement it clear that he finds “farmers distress” will be a national political issue.
