Congress Chief Whip Prasad Harichandan, however, claimed

that Kerala and Uttar Pradesh have made provisions of pension for farmers. "If MLAs get pension for being a member of the Assembly for five years and government officials get the same facilities for working for 20 years, why not farmers who spend their lives in cultivation," Harichandan asked. Noting that many farmers have been migrating to other states in search of jobs, Harichandan said they leave Odisha due to lack of incentives to agricultural activities. The Congress leader also slammed the state government for allowing agricultural land for industrial purpose. "The CAG in its report has pointed out how the size of cultivable land is gradually declining," he said. Criticising the state government for making populist announcements like Rs 1 per kg rice with an eye on elections, Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh of Congress said this government should announce pension for farmers and bonus on paddy. "Farmers in western Odisha are already agitating. The farmers across the state will unite and oust this government if it did not announce pension for them," Singh said. BJP backed Independent MLA Pratap Sarangi criticised the state government for ignoring the interest of farmers. "The BJD government may be by the people, but it works for the corporate houses," Sarangi said.