Having neglected the farmers for long, the BJD ruling in the State and the BJP ruling at the Centre pulled out all the stops to pacify the aggrieved farmers and win them over ahead of the
by-election in Padampur.
Farmers’ distress is high in Padampur where drought is an endemic problem and irrigation facility is a pipedream. The farmers have long been demanding timely supply of fertiliser, seed, input subsidy, MSP hike, bonus, timely opening of Mandis and crop insurance claims, but in vain.
However, as the byelection is inching close, the leaders of both the BJD and BJP have woken up to the farmers’ difficulties and are holding hectic parleys with the agitating farmers to woo them to their sides.
BJP’s nominee Pradip Purohit, being a farmer leader and party’s Kissan Morcha State president, happened to be an early bird in upping the ante. He targeted the BJD Government in the State for serious lapses in implementing the Prime Minister Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), which is a Central Government scheme. He accused the State Government of having a nexus with the HDFC Ergo General Insurance Company Limited which has neglected in paying insurance money to the farmers who suffered massive crop loss due to drought in Padampur.
The bid to pamper the farmers got a twist after the intervention of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan who along with Bargarh MP Suresh Pujari and other prominent leaders of the party of western Odisha met the agitating farmers in Padampur and squarely held the State Government responsible for not implementing the PMFBY properly. “When there are a number of Government insurance companies, why did the Odisha Government choose HDFC, a private insurance company, under the PMFBY?” asked Pradhan.
Pradhan not just talked to Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on the issue, he also demanded an inquiry into the implementation of the PMFBY in Odisha, alleging massive irregularities in the scheme.
Earlier in a step further to appease the farmers, the BJP had deferred its nomination filing on November 14 as the agitating farmers urged the parties not to file their nominations till their demand for release of crop insurance claims was not fulfilled.
The BJD, which was also in constant touch with the farmers and passing
the buck to the Centre over the issue of nonpayment of crop insurance money, played a masterstroke on Tuesday after CM and party supremo Naveen Patnaik announced a Rs 200 crore input package for the drought-hit farmers of the State.
Political observers said the move was well-timed to woo the voters of Padampur even though the affected farmers may not get the boon immediately considering the Model Code of Conduct which came into
force on Tuesday.
However, since the announcement is meant for the entire State, covering about 2, 63,560 hectares of crop land in 64 blocks and 15 ULBs of 12 districts, the farmers of Padampur have now a hope of getting the benefit after the election is over, they added.
A CMO release clarified that the State Government will bear the entire expenditure for the distressed farmers who suffered crop loss of 33 per cent and above.
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and veteran western Odisha leader Jayanarayan Mishra was soon to react to the BJD move, dubbing it as showing ‘lantern in daylight.’ State BJP general secretary Prithiviraj Harichandan in Press meet on Wednesday, however, came down heavily on the Chief Minister, calling him as a ‘merchant of lies.’ He said the demand for input subsidy by the farmers was going on for years but the State Government did not pay heed. He described the Rs 200 crore package as a hasty move to woo the voters of Padampur.
He took on CM Patnaik for consistently giving false promises before elections which he never fulfilled. He reminded Patnaik of his promise of Rs 100 bonus to farmers at a Bargarh meeting and the mega Gangadhar Meher Lift Irrigation Project in Bargarh district before the bypoll in Bijepur. Harichandan said while the farmers were not paid the bonus, not a single inch of agricultural land was provided water from the much-touted irrigation project so far in Bargarh.