Bhubaneswar: The Congress on Wednesday slammed the State Government for failing to effect development in the agriculture sector and provide support to farmers during the last 19 years.
“While more than 60 per cent of the State’s population is dependent on agriculture, the BJD Government has done little for them. Almost 4,000 farmers committed suicide during the period of the Naveen Patnaik Government. Per capita income of farmers is Rs 33,000 in Odisha compared to national average o Rs 45,000,” said PCC vice-president Arya Kumar Jnanedra at a Press meet here.
He said farmers are not getting the right price for their produce and they are selling land to pay off their loans.
Jnanendra said Government launched KALIA Yojana to rub salt on the wounds of the farmer. The State’s allocation to agriculture has increased by only 10 per cent during the last three years compared to more than 30 per cent in the rest of the country.
Similarly, budgetary allocation for irrigation grew by only 7 per cent compared to national average of 21 per cent. The Chief Minister is only fooling people through promises and propaganda, Jnanendra alleged.
Quoting from the State’s Economic Survey, he said, “There Is over-dependence on rain-fed farming, inadequate irrigation coverage, low level of capital formation, over-dependence on paddy cultivation and slow pace of modernization in agriculture sector in the State.”
