3rd year of Modi Government: Farmers’ issue takes sheen out of ‘ache din’

Bhubaneswar: Opposition parties including the BJD and the Congress dubbed the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led BJP government as ‘anti-farmer’ as they are still waiting for his promise of ‘achhe din’ or the days of prosperity.

On a special programme organised by OTV on the occasion of completion of 3-years of Modi sarkar on Friday, Congress leader Biswaranjan Mohanty criticised the Centre for falsely propagating its success story.

When will the ‘ache din’ come for the farmers as promised by the Prime Minister at a major farmers’ convention held in Bargarh in February last year? The Congress leader alleged that Modi government is ‘Suit Boot Ki Sarkar’ and has failed to bring ache din for the farmers across the country.

While the Centre is busy publicising its success, the number of farmers who committed suicides has increased from 12,360 in 2014 to 14,000 in 2016.

Also Read: BJD-BJP tussle over farmers plight

“On an average 35 farmers are committing suicides in the country. The Modi government through its decision of insurance has collected Rs 17,000 crore by collecting two percent premium from farmers while only Rs 6,000 has been disbursed as compensation. The remaining profit of Rs 10,000 has gone to the insurance companies,” said Mohanty.

BJD leader Tejeswar Parida on the other hand targeted BJP government for its failure in increasing the farmers income, hike in MSP, irrigation facilities.

“Odisha is staring at a bleak future as nearly 50 percent paddy would be unsold if there would be no procurement this year. At present Odisha is producing nearly 45 lakh MT tonnes annually against the total requirement of 22 lakh MT tonnes while FCI is procuring 23 lakh MT tonnes,” said Parida.

BJP on the other hand targeted BJD over its failure in utilisation of funds and implementation of various central schemes successfully in the State.

Speaking at the OTV discussion, senior BJP leader Golak Mohapatra alleged that Centre had released Rs 20.34 crores under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Yojna in 2015-16 while  Odisha government has only spent Rs 5 crore.

Similarly, Rs 29 crores were released under the scheme in 2016-17 and so far only Rs 7 crore has been spent by Odisha government as per the RTI data.

“It is the responsibility of State Governments to ensure proper implementation of the central sponsored schemes. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi led BJP government has come up with over 242 schemes in the last three years,” said Mohapatra.

Mohapatra further said that the Modi led government is a transparent government working for the poor in the country.