In order to avoid further trouble and agitation in the election year, the BJD Government on Thursday decided to provide Rs 100 bonus on procurement of every quintal of paddy to farmers during procurement. The decision was reportedly taken at the State Cabinet which met here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
The decision came two days after the obstruction of the Chief Minister’s convoy by angry farmers in the sensitive zone before the Secretariat in Bhubaneswar. At least, 26 members of Navanirman Krushak Sangathan (NKS), who were arrested in connection with the demonstration, are still in jail custody.
There was no official briefing on the decisions taken by the Cabinet as per the strict instructions of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on the plea of Model Code of Conduct due to the ongoing BMC polls. Even, the Ministers refused to divulge anything relating to the agenda. Interestingly, no Minister could know the agenda in the Cabinet till the meeting started as the memorandum was not circulated to them for their perusal.
The NKS members had been in a hunger strike before the State Assembly for the last 17 days demanding among other things Rs 500 bonus on procurement of every quintal of paddy, adequate assistance to the farmers affected by the cyclonic storm Phailin and subsequent floods, effective marketing network, cold storage facility and provision of quality seed and fertilisers.
Earlier, during the Winter Session of the State Assembly, four NKS members protesting the anti-farmers policy of the Government had shouted slogans in the visitors’ gallery and one of them even tried to jump from the gallery into the House to draw the attention of the Government to their demands. According to sources, a BJD delegation led by Pradeep Maharathy supporting the cause of the farmers also had met the Chief Minister at the Secretariat this evening and urged him to take steps to fulfil their demands, particularly the provision of bonus during procurement.
According to sources, the Cabinet also decided to oppose the move by Central Government to introduce stricter selection process in case of promotion of State Civil Services officers to IAS, IPS and IFS. Tamil Nadu and some other States had already opposed the move.