Bhubaneswar: Amidst nation-wide agitation by various farmers' unions for total rollback of the contentious farm laws recently enacted by the Centre, and buzz in the political circles on the stand of Odisha's Biju Janata Dal (BJD) over the issue, the ruling party in the State has clarified its stand, saying that it has always been extending moral support to the farmers whenever necessary.
Speaking to reporters, senior BJD MLA Sashi Bhushan Behera said “We have agreed to some of the points raked up by agitating farmers. If we look at the previous years, the Naveen Patnaik-led government has taken numerous measures to boost up the standard of life of the peasants.”
He further added that the State government has made a special budget for farmers and continues to raise the budget allocation for agriculture sector every year.
Besides, the State has also come up with new agriculture policy ‘SAMRIDHI’ with an aim to ensure continuous increase in income of farmers, he said. Besides accepting the recommendations made by Swaminathan Committee, the Government has also unanimously approved a proposal in the State Assembly to double the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of various agricultural produces, Behera maintained.
It is evident from all such pro-farmer policies, that the State government has always stood by the interest of the farming community.
It is worth mentioning that various farmers’ unions across the country have been agitating against three new farms laws-- the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.