Odisha Assembly panel to meet President over paddy MSP

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Assembly passed a resolution today to meet President Ram Nath Kovind over minimum support price (MSP) of paddy.

After normalcy returned to House on the third day of the winter session, the ruling party was able to move a motion on the MSP issue and targeted the Central Government along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Business Advisory Committee of the Odisha Assembly gave a green signal to the discussion on MSP after government chief whip Amar Satpathy presented a House Committee report relating to paddy MSP.

BJD MLAs targeted the Centre during a marathon discussion and alleged that the Prime Minister has insulted the farmers by not giving appointment for a meeting with the House Committee. The ruling party tabled a proposal that the House Committee should meet the President over the issue, instead of the Prime Minister.

The Congress seeking discussion on farmers’ plight also targeted both the Centre and the State governments over the MSP issue.

Leader of Opposition (LoP) Narasingha Mishra alleged that Odisha is not on the priority list of Prime Minister. The State Government is also not fulfilling its responsibility, he added.

Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati said, "The Prime Minister has insulted Odisha. As he did not give appointment to the House Committee we will meet the President.”

The BJP will not be a part of the Committee to meet the president.

BJP legislature party leader K V Singhdeo made it clear that the party will not support any proposal against the Prime Minister. The BJP alleged the BJD of not fulfilling its poll promises.

BJP State President Basant Panda even said, "If the government had concerns about the farmers then there would have been no instances of suicides.”

As per government reports, the production cost of paddy is Rs 2,344 per quintal. The Odisha government is demanding a hike in MSP to Rs 2,930 per quintal.

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