Kalahandi Congress MP Bhakta Charan Das met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Thursday and apprised him of the plight of the farmers of Kalahandi and Nuapada districts who lost their harvested paddy due to heavy rains.
Das urged the PM to compensate the farmers with the Minimum Support Price per quintal and also requested him to provide help from the natural calamity fund as the State Government doesn’t seem to take the matter seriously which is evident from the amount it has announced as the compensation, i.e., Rs 6,500 per hectare which is inadequate.
Das said farmers in Odisha had to suffer heavy losses because of excess rainfall this year. He also drew the PM’s attention over the lack of storage facility in the State. Because of this, all small, medium and marginal farmers had to bear heavy loss.
Das requested the Prime Minister to take up the issue considerately and get them at least 50 per cent compensation for their lost crops as per the minimum support price per acre.
Das has also written a letter to the Chief Minister in this regards.