The BJP on Wednesday demanded a judicial probe into all the farmer suicides, including that of Bargarh district’s Khainu (Hadu) Bagarty, while coming down heavily on the State Government for not accepting that “the peasants ended their lives due to crop loss and loan burden”.
The saffron party’s State president Sameer Mohanty made this demand at a Press conference here. Alleging that Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy furnished wrong information about Hadu’s suicide, Mohanty informed that the party MlAs would bring a privilege motion against the Minister in the State Assembly during the second phase of the Budget Session.
“Farmers have been committing suicides for crop loss and loan burden. But it is disappointing that the State Government doesn’t concede to the fact. Bargarh district’s Hadu died for the same reason, but the Minister furnished a false report in the State Assembly,” alleged Mohanty.
Stating that the Government had earlier citied various reasons about deaths of 174 farmers in 2016, Mohanty said,” The State Government is trying to cover up its failures. While the State Government has been providing funds for farm loans, the same is being bungled midway. Farmlands have not been irrigated, and hence, farmers are suffering crop losses and committed suicide under loan burden.” He said if the State Government accepts that farmers committed suicides for crop loss and loan burden, then their widows and children would get pension and assistances as per guidelines.
Earlier in the day, party activists had burnt effigies of the Agriculture Minister while staging protests against Hadu’s suicide at all block offices across the State.
Besides, party activists gheraoed offices of Vice-Chancellors of all universities protesting the alleged interference of ruling party leaders in the affairs of Ravenshaw University that led to student unrest in the campus.