Saturday, October 29, 2011

Political parties visit suicide victim farmer’s village


Berhampur: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Former Deputy Speaker Ramachandra Panda along with State president of BJP Krushak Morcha Mahesh Mohanty and Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) members have visited Tikarpada, the village of debt-ridden farmer Dibakar Sethi who committed suicide consuming pesticide on Thursday.
After visiting the village, BJP called a press conference where they demanded the State government to declare Ganjam district drought-hit immediately and compensation for the families of the debt-ridden farmer Dibakar Sethi, who committed suicide.
Panda told in the conference that the Government should frame a ‘National Water Resource Management Policy’, by which the farmers of the state can get benefit out of it.
“On the one hand, there is surplus of water in the Mahanadi; on the other hand, there is deficit of water in the river Rushikulya. If the river connection project will be initiated by the government, then the deficit of water can be fulfilled as a long term solution”, said Panda on the contest of water scarcity in the paddy field which led to drought in some areas like Ganjam.
BJP also proposed for Life Insurance of minimum Rs 5 lakh for the farmers. It also expressed grave concern over the farmer suicide in the state as within two year more than 200 hundred farmers of the state committed suicide which is a shame on the Government and its policy.
The party also demanded the Government should provide loan with low rate interest for the farmers. “If the industries are getting loan in 9 percent interest rate, why the farmers who are the backbones of the country will borrow the amount in a high rate interest of 12-25 percent from the finance organizations”, Panda questioned.
Congress’s six chartered demand
Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) members led by Ganjam District Congress Committee (GDCC) president Bhagaban Gantayat, former minister Chandrasekhar Sahu along with Sriballabha Panigrahy, Narendra Mishra, Vikram Panda have visited the village Tikarpada, suicide victim farmer’s village. After visiting the village, congress was also called a press meet at Berhampur.
Congress demanded a neutral probe into the farmer’s suicide, declare Ganjam district drought-hit, appropriate compensation for the farmers who had lost crop due to untimely rain during last Khariff crop, total waiver of agricultural loans for the current year, repairing of irrigation points in a war footing, free seeds and fertilizer for the Rabi crop.
Congress questioned that if Government will have been distributed crop loss insurance uniformly for the drought-hit farmers, the suicide could have been avoided.   
On Friday district congress had handed over a memorandum through the RDC to the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik demanding declaration of Ganjam as the drought-hit district.  
    

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