Opposition Congress today came down heavily on both the BJD government in Odisha and the BJP-led NDA govenrment at the Centre accusing them of betraying farmers by making false promises to them.
Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Narasingha Mishra hit out at the BJD and BJP while participating in an adjournment debate on plight of farmers and apathy of the state and Centre.
"Both the Naveen Patnaik-led government in Odisha and the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre have made false promises to get votes," Mishra said at the debate initiated by Congress.
The BJD had in its 2014 manifesto promised to provide irrigation to 10 lakh hectares in the next five years. "Though four years have passed since 2014, can the minister say how much land has been irrigated so far?" Mishra asked.
Calling the BJD government a "habitual liar", he said the state government in 2006 had promised 35 per cent irrigation in every block of the state. "What is the result in 12 years? Have you (BJD) been able to achieve the goal?" he asked.
"Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in a statement in the Assembly has said that 1,96,000 hectare in Sonepur district have been irrigated while the cultivable land area in the district is only 1,10,000 hectare. This shows how aware the govenrment is of facts," he said.
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The Congress leader also alleged that not a single medium or major irrigation project has been completed during the 18-year regime of Naveen Patnaik. He said while the state government failed to complete the Lower Suktel Project within 18 years, it has not started the work of Ong irrigation project though it got the sanction in 1999.
Mishra also criticised Agriculture Minister Pradip Maharathy for not mentioning the state government's assurance to the agitating farmers who suspended their strike yesterday.
He asked the minister to inform the House about the steps being taken to meet the demands of farmers, who seek, price, pension and prestige.
Hitting out the BJP government at the Centre, Mishra said though Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced to revise minimum support price and make it one-and-half time of the cost of food grain production nothing has been done in four years.
"The prime minister could not even find time to meet Odisha Assembly's House Committee on the MSP on paddy. Though the Assembly passed an unanimous resolution to make Rs 2930 per quintal of paddy as the MSP, the Centre rejected it. The farmers in Odisha spend Rs 2344 to produce one qunital of paddy and get Rs 1550 per quintal as MSP," he said.
BJP members Basant Panda and Rabinarayan Naik criticised the ruling BJD for not giving bonus to farmers and not following the Centre's guideline to protect crops from the pest attack.
Maharathy called the adjournment motion "baseless" and said it has no meaning as Odisha has received the Krishi Karman Puraskar from the Centre for the fourth consecutive time.
The state government is committed to farmers' welfare, he said and claimed that Odisha has been able to double the farmers income within this decade.