Bhubaneswar: Accusing the state government of attempting to suppress the farmer suicides, the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) has demanded a judicial probe into the death of farmers, which have been reported from different parts of Odisha.
Addressing a press conference, State BJP vice-president Sameer Mohanty today accused the BJD government of being ‘insensitive ’towards the farmers ’plight in the state.
He alleged that there have been a spate of farmer suicides as the government had utterly failed to perform its duty in providing proper irrigation and electricity to different parts of the state.
“BJP is with the farmers of Odisha and we want a judicial probe into the suicide allegations that have come up from different parts of the state,” said Mohanty.
Raising the issue of false report submitted by the Bargarh collector particularly regarding the death of farmer Hadu Bagarti, Mohanty said the collector had prepared a report without visiting the agriculture field and village of the deceased.
The district administration had earlier claimed that Bagarti had ended life by consuming pesticide following a family dispute. However, the family members alleged that he had committed suicide following crop loss and debt burden.
Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy had read out the report of the collector in the assembly on March 4.
Subsequently, the minister had ordered a fresh probe into the incident after the family members raised objections on the reason cited for Bargarti’s death by the administration without conducting a thorough inquiry, Mohanty added.
The saffron party has also demanded that the state government should provide compensation to the family of the farmers who have committed suicides like that is being provided in others parts of the country including Maharastra, Telengana and Andhra Pradesh.
BJD leader Amar Satpathy on the other hand claimed that Odisha government is serious on the issue of farmer suicides.
“If any officer has submitted a false report, another inquiry can be done while judicial probe is not the solution as it would further delay the process,”said Satpathy.