At a time when Odisha is reeling from heatwave conditions, with normal life disrupted by the mercury hovering around 45 degrees Celcius, the Biju Janata Dal has once again taken up the cudgels for those who are arguably the worst affected by the challenges and impact of climate change – the farming community.
Just a day after the Centre increased the minimum support price (MSP) of the common grade variety of paddy by Rs 100 per quintal – from Rs 1,940 in 2021-22 to Rs 2,040 in 2022-23 – the BJD once again made a push for enhancing the MSP to no less than Rs 2,930 per quintal.
While addressing a press conference in the state capital of Bhubaneswar, BJD national spokesperson Sasmit Patra strongly stated that the increase of Rs 100 per quintal was grossly insufficient as per Swaminathan Commission recommendations even as he reiterated his party’s demand to raise the MSP for paddy to 1.5 times the cost of production.
He sought to remind the Centre that although BJD MPs had raised the issue several times in the Parliament over the past years, and MLAs from all parties had unanimously supported a resolution to that effect in the Odisha assembly way back in March 2017, the implementation of that demand remains unrealised.
At the press conference, Patra pulled no punches as he urged the Centre on his party’s behalf to lift all the surplus parboiled rice from the state. Pointing out that most of the rice produced in Odisha is the parboiled type and that the state is one of the leading contributors to PDS (public distribution system) in the country, he said the decision to stop lifting surplus parboiled rice would have a negative impact on lakhs of farmers across the state and particularly on the agricultural community in Western Odisha.
He also reminded the Centre about the food subsidy dues of Rs 10,334 crore as he demanded that they be released as soon as possible. In addition, Patra even said that the interest that had accrued as a result of delay in the release of those dues should be paid for by the Centre. But at the same time he suggested that the state was ready to bear the additional costs should the Centre fail to do so.
Under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, there is an undeniable consistency to the BJD’s stand on matters of farmer’s welfare.
When Prime Minister Modi finally announced his government’s decision to withdraw the three reformative but controversial farm laws that were fiercely protested by farmers from various parts of the country for well over a year, Chief Minister Patnaik was among the first to welcome the move as a step in the right direction.
The BJD had maintained throughout this tense period that the interest for small and marginal farmers had been ignored in those new laws. Unfortunately, it is the poorest among the farmers who bear the brunt of heatwaves and climate change. But fortunately, they have an all-weather friend in the five-time Chief Minister.
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